TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Tobe Awaka had 18 points and 15 rebounds and No. 10 Arizona dominated inside the paint and on the boards in a 102-44 nonconference win over Old Dominion on Saturday.
Awaka, a junior forward who transferred from Tennessee, was 8 of 10 from the field and had eight of Arizona’s 24 offensive rebounds, its most in a game since 2005. Freshman Carter Bryant had 12 points and center Henri Veesaar added 10 points with nine boards for the Wildcats (2-0).
Devin Ceaser scored 12 points for Old Dominion (0-2), which shot 31.6% and missed 11 of 17 free throw attempts. It was the most lopsided loss in school history for the Monarchs, topping a 111-65 defeat to Florida Christian in 1956.
Takeaways
Old Dominion: The Monarchs were without sophomore guard Robert Davis Jr., a transfer from Massachusetts who scored 25 in their season-opening loss to Buffalo.
Arizona: The Wildcats had a commanding edge in paint points, outscoring Old Dominion 58-24. They missed 13 layups but still converted all those misses into 23 second-chance points.
Key moment
Arizona went on a 13-0 run late in the first half to put the game away, getting eight points from Caleb Love including back-to-back three-pointers and a putback dunk from KJ Lewis.
Key stat
Arizona opened the game with a double-digit scoring run for the second straight contest, leading 11-0 just over three minutes in. In the Wildcats’ season-opening 93-64 win over Canisius they began with a 13-0 run and led 23-4.
Up next
Old Dominion remains on the road to face Radford on Tuesday, while Arizona visits Wisconsin on Friday.
