Freshman Bennedict Mathurin scored a season-high 31 points as Arizona cruised to a 98-64 win over Oregon State on Thursday in Corvallis, Ore.
Arizona scored the first 15 points of the game and never trailed.
Mathurin, who made 10 of 12 shots from the field, topped his previous best of 24 points at Washington State in a double-overtime game on Jan. 2. He also had eight rebounds Thursday and made 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
Arizona's Jordan Brown, a transfer from Nevada, also made 10 of 12 field-goal attempts and finished with 25 points. Azuolas Tubelis added 15 points and five rebounds for the Wildcats (10-3, 4-3 Pac-12).
Brown, Mathurin and Tubelis outscored Oregon State on their own. They combined to make 26 of 35 (74.3 percent) shots from the field compared to the Beavers' 25 of 61 mark (41 percent) as a team.
Arizona bounced back after getting swept at home last weekend by Southern California and UCLA.
The Wildcats also played their first game without guard Jemarl Baker Jr., their second-leading scorer at 12 points per game who broke his wrist last week and is out for the season.
Oregon State (5-5, 1-3) played its first game since Jan. 4 after missing last week's games at Colorado and Utah because of positive COVID-19 tests within the program. The Beavers finally had a practice as a team on Tuesday, their first in eight days.
Ethan Thompson led Oregon State with 13 points, Jarod Lucas had 12 and Gianni Hunt finished with 10.
Arizona held the Beavers scoreless until Lucas made a jumper with 11:40 left in the first half.
The Beavers trailed 47-21 at halftime, their largest halftime deficit of the season.
Arizona outrebounded Oregon State 23-12 in the first half, contributing to a 32-14 edge on points in the paint before the break.
The Wildcats eventually won the rebounding battle 42-28 and outscored the Beavers 52-32 in the paint.
Arizona shot 54.3 percent from the field in the first half. The Wildcats' precision from the start was evident with their 13 assists (with only three turnovers) on their 19 made field goals before halftime.
Arizona finished with 21 assists and only 10 turnovers. The Wildcats shot 57.4 percent from the field.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Oregon St. | |
Bennedict Mathurin 31 | Scoring | Ethan Thompson 13 |
James Akinjo 9 | Assists | Ethan Thompson 5 |
Christian Koloko 10 | Rebounds | Jarod Lucas 4 |
Jordan Brown 5 | Free Throws Made | Ethan Thompson 3 |
James Akinjo 5 | Steals | Ethan Thompson 4 |
Christian Koloko 3 | Blocks | Warith Alatishe 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Arizona | 98 | 57.4 | 8-17 | 20-26 | 21 | 39 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
Oregon St. | 64 | 41.0 | 5-22 | 9-14 | 16 | 25 | 4 | 8 | 12 |