ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Racing up and down the Mubadala Dome floor at their preferred pace, the Arizona Wildcats had seven players score in double figures in their 127-90 exhibition win over UAE Select.
Guard Filip Borovicanin had 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists while freshman KJ Lewis added 15 points and seven rebounds in his UA debut after missing the Wildcats’ game Monday against Israel Select with an ankle and foot issue.
Paulius Murauskas added 12 points while Oumar Ballo had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
"It was a good experience," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "Still, for us, this is about taking first steps. It was a great experience for us and for our guys to understand the effort we want to play with and the unselfishness we want to play with."
UAE Select was led by two American players who have agreed to terms with UAE clubs in the upcoming season, former Miami guard DaQuan Jones and former Dayton guard Devon Scott.
Jones had 30 points while taking 18 trips to the line, making 16 free throws, while Scott had 19. Scott played for former UA associate head coach Archie Miller at Dayton before he was dismissed over legal issues during the 2014-15 season.
In the first half, Arizona guard Pelle Larsson and Borovicanin both had 12 points to lead the Wildcats to a 60-37 halftime lead.
Jones, who played in Korea last season, hit a 3 to tie it at 13 with 4:29 left in first quarter before UA took the lead for the rest of the game.
"It looks like they came out and they were organized," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "But I think our guys did a good job of collectively amping up the pressure, and the ball pressure had a cumulative effect that caused some of their lesser players to make mistakes. We obviously kind of broke the game open and we got out in transition a bunch."
The Wildcats held UAE Select to 41% shooting from the field and scored 30 points off 21 UAE turnovers. On the other end of the court, Arizona had 15 turnovers but managed to set up 33 of its 55 field goals with assists.
Arizona didn’t expand its lead for most of the third quarter but ended it on an emphatic note, when Borovicanin hit a 3-pointer and, on UAE’s next possession, Kylan Boswell stole the ball at the top of the key and raced in for an uncontested dunk as time expired to make it 95-66.
Jones led UAE in the first half with 16 points and four rebounds.
The game was played in front of 35 spectators, mostly members of UA's traveling party and a few curious locals at the Mubadala Dome of Abu Dhabi's Al Jazira Club.
It was believed to be the first time a college basketball team has played a game in the United Arab Emirates, though Kansas State is scheduled to face the Mexican national team later Thursday.
