North Dakota State Bison vs Arizona Wildcats Match Player Stats On Dec 18, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 18, 2017

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds in an 83-53 win over North Dakota State University on Monday night at McKale Center.

No. 18 Arizona won the game but lost junior guard Allonzo Trier to a possible knee injury. He hit the floor in a collision with a Bison player with 9:53 left in the game and was assisted off the court. He came into the season a preseason first-team All-American and was averaging 22.3 points per game. He had 15 before he left on Monday night.

Arizona (9-3) has now won 46 consecutive nonconference games on its home court and 76 of its last 78 home games overall dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Arizona started the second half like it ended the first one, outscoring NDSU (5-6) on a big run, 18-6 in the first 5 1/2 minutes.

Arizona officially broke open what was already a big-margin game. Arizona led 56-29 with 14 minutes left.

Rawle Alkins, who made his second start of the season after being out with a foot injury, didn't score his first basket until 3:42 left in the first half. He finished with 11 points after scoring a career-high 26 against New Mexico on Saturday.

Paul Miller led NDSU with 12 points.

North Dakota State had the lead for most of the first 11 minutes of the game, getting up 16-13 with 10:40 remaining in the first half. But Arizona slowly took over behind Ayton, who had two dunks as part of a 9-2 run to make it 22-18.

But the Bison re-rallied to tie it at 22 with 6:32 left in the half. NDSU hit four of its first 10 3-pointers to stay in the game -- until it went 0 for 6 from the distance the rest of the way in the half.

Arizona went on another run late in the second half, going on a 16-0 run to end the half. NDSU failed to score in the final 6:54 of the game, going 0-7 from the floor.

Arizona had a 38-22 lead at the half.

NOTES: F Deandre Ayton has had double-doubles in nine of his first 12 games. He ranks third nationally in double-doubles ... Arizona moved up from No. 23 to 18 in the rankings on Monday. It started the season No. 2. ... Freshman F Emmanuel Akot played in his first game after missing the last two. Miller said he had been suffering knee issues the last couple of weeks. ... Freshman G Alex Barcello played after missing the last game because of an ankle sprain. ... NDSU's opponents are a collective 47-10 this season, making for a tough Bison schedule ... The Bison are 3-13 vs. top 25 teams over the years. Its last victory came against No. 20 Oklahoma in 2014. ... NDSU has lost four of its last six games.