Caleb Love had his best-scoring game at Arizona with 20 points and freshman Motiejus Krivas also scored 20 as the No. 3 Wildcats routed Belmont 100-68 on Friday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Love, a senior transfer from North Carolina, made 8 of 12 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and dished out six assists for Arizona (4-0). Krivas, a backup center, scored his career high on 8-of-10 shooting while pulling down nine rebounds.
Malik Dia was a bright spot for the Bruins (2-2) with 21 points and seven rebounds, both team highs. Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 13. Belmont shot well from 3-point range (12 of 27, 44.4 percent), but the Wildcats dominated down low with a 52-22 rebounding edge.
Arizona, which reached triple-digit points for the second time this season, showed off its balance with five double-digit scorers. Kylan Boswell scored 14, followed by Oumar Ballo (12) and Keshad Johnson (11).
About the only thing that went wrong for the Wildcats was that Ballo went 2 of 8 from the free-throw line.
The Bruins were hot from the field early, hitting their first four 3-point attempts to tie the score at 14. From there, it was all Arizona.
The Wildcats then went on a game-defining 18-0 run, which started with eight points in 50 seconds. Love largely fueled the spurt, hitting two 3-pointers and driving for two layups that helped him outscore Belmont by himself nine minutes into the game (15 to 14).
The Wildcats kept pouring it on, pushing their lead to as many as 27 points in the first half, when they shot 51.4 percent (19 of 37). Krivas nearly had a double-double at halftime with 10 points and eight rebounds, only two fewer boards than the entire Belmont team.
--Field Level Media
Belmont | Arizona | |
Malik Dia 21 | Scoring | Motiejus Krivas 20 |
Keishawn Davidson 7 | Assists | Kylan Boswell 6 |
Malik Dia 7 | Rebounds | Motiejus Krivas 9 |
Malik Dia 2 | Free Throws Made | Motiejus Krivas 4 |
Ja'Kobi Gillespie 3 | Steals | Jaden Bradley 2 |
Malik Dia 1 | Blocks | Motiejus Krivas 2 |