Arizona perimeter players Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis combined for 46 points, 14 assists and only one turnover to propel the 10th-ranked Wildcats to a season-opening 93-64 win Monday night over Canisius in Tucson, Ariz.
Love finished with 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and no turnovers for Arizona.
Bradley had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field with four rebounds and four assists without a turnover. Lewis scored 14 points on 5-of-8 from the field, also adding four rebounds and four assists with one turnover.
Arizona tallied 20 assists on 33 made field goals and outrebounded Canisius 43-25 behind a team-high nine rebounds from Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka.
Canisius played its first game under coach Jim Christian, who spent 19 years at previous stops Kent State, TCU, Ohio and Boston College.
The Golden Griffins were led by Paul McMillan IV’s 20 points. Dylan Godfrey added 13 points and Tana Kopa had 11.
Arizona’s projected starting center, 7-foot-2 Lithuanian Motiejus Krivas, was cleared to play after an ankle injury kept him out of exhibition games against Eastern New Mexico and Point Loma.
Krivas finished with nine points and five rebounds (four offensive) in 10 minutes of action.
Arizona scored the game’s first 13 points and built its lead to 34-10, which matched its largest lead of the half.
The Wildcats exhibited balance and efficiency in the half, taking a 52-30 lead at halftime, with 11 assists on 16 made field goals and four players scoring at least seven points.
Love, an All-American guard who chose to return for his fifth year, led Arizona with 10 points and four assists with no turnovers in the first half. Henri Veesaar also had seven of his eight points in the first half.
McMillan’s 3-pointer with 16:21 left cut the lead to 61-41.
Arizona pulled away with a 15-3 run, with Love scoring seven points and Lewis six in that span.
Krivas culminated the run with a dunk that gave Arizona a 76-44 lead with 12:12 remaining.
–Field Level Media
