Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin delivers a slam dunk during Tuesday’s first half.

 Mamta Popat, Arizona Daily Star

After a core of returnees helped make him a winner in his college head coaching debut Tuesday night at McKale Center, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd was a few minutes late to his postgame news conference.

He had to change his clothes. Because they were soaking wet, courtesy of Wildcats players who beat NAU 81-52 in their season opener.

“I’ve been in a locker room celebrating before, but I was always a behind-the-scenes kind of guy,” Lloyd said, smiling. “It caught me off-guard. it was a great moment. They’re a great group to be associated with.”

The good vibes were felt throughout the evening, in a late-night game that followed the UA women’s basketball opener at McKale. About 10,000 fans showed up, providing a much different scene than the stale, canned-music-only atmosphere of the fan-less 2020-21 season.

“It was day and night” comparing the two seasons, said sophomore guard Kriisa, who led the Wildcats with 17 points and five assists. “Last year with no fans, it was super, super weird to even like play basketball.

“Plus, I feel like we have a lot of guys in the team that if the fans get behind us, they get they get themselves going. I’m a really emotional guy. (Dalen Terry) is a really emotional player.”

Kriisa, a sophomore from Estonia, then paused and considered his somewhat stoic teammate from Lithuania, forward Azuolas Tubelis.

“Even Zu gave some emotion,” Kriisa said. “So if Zu is giving some emotions, that means that crowd is doing something great.”

Overall, despite all the change that Lloyd has brought to Arizona as the Wildcats’ new head coach this season, holdover players led the way Tuesday.

While Kriisa led had 17 points and five rebounds, Christian Koloko swatted a career-high five blocks to go with eight points and four rebounds. Two other returnees, Tubelis and Terry, also played key roles.

Wildcats guard Dalen Terry listens to Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd in the second half of Tuesday’s opener against NAU.

Tubelis added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Terry finished with 11 points after an electric first half on both ends of the floor.

“I feel like we have some experience and can take the other guys who haven’t been here under our wings, make this a whole team thing,” Terry said.

The returnees’ production was no surprise to Lloyd.

“I’ve told you from Day 1 — and it wasn’t lip service — that it was really important to get a lot of the guys back,” Lloyd said. “They have experience and I’m sure there were a lot of growing pains last year. They were able to build on it and we’re gonna continue to build on it.”

But even though the returnees had been around, only Koloko had played a regular-season game in front of fans at McKale Center. About 10,000 fans showed up for the late-night season opener this time, creating a much different atmosphere than the canned-noise-only atmosphere of the fan-less 2020-21 season.

Arizona had beaten NAU by an average of 42.1 points over their previous six meetings, including a 96-53 win at McKale Center last season, but the Lumberjacks shot well enough in the second half to avoid a repeat of that margin.

Up by 20 at halftime, Arizona gradually opened its lead to 27 midway through the second half but NAU shot 56.3% over the first 12 minutes after halftime. The Lumberjacks had shot just 29.6% in the first half.

The Arizona Wildcats began the Tommy Lloyd era with an 81-52 win over Northern Arizona Tuesday night at McKale Center. Kerr Kriisa (17 points, 5 assists) and Dalen Terry (11 points, 7 assists) spoke to the media after the game.

For the game, Arizona shot 40.6% from the field and 32.0% from 3-point range while NAU hit 35.8% overall and 31.3% from beyond the arc. The Wildcats barely outrebounded NAU, 44-42, but scored 24 points on 21 Lumberjack turnovers.

In the first half, Terry and Koloko combined to help Arizona take a 42-22 halftime lead.

Terry averaged only 4.6 points last season but started 14 games in part because of the potential he showed with his length, ball control and athleticism. On Tuesday, in his sophomore season debut, he had seven points, six assists, two steals and a block in the first half alone.

Kriisa added nine points and three assists in the first half Tuesday while Koloko added eight points and four blocks, already tying the career high of four blocks he had against both NAU and Cal State Bakersfield last season.

Arizona, which shot 51.5% from the field and held NAU to just 29.6% shooting, went on a 13-0 run over a 4:18 span late in the second half to take a 31-15 lead. During the run, Terry chipped in a 3-pointer and an assist on a dunk by Bennedict Mathurin.

Lloyd began the game with the same starting lineup as he used for the Wildcats’ Nov. 1 exhibition game against Eastern New Mexico: Kriisa, Terry, Bennedict Mathurin, Azuolas Tubelis and Koloko.

Pelle Larsson, making his first public UA appearance after breaking a foot in August, joined guard Justin Kier and forward Kim Aiken as one of the first three players off the bench.

Of Arizona’s starters, only Terry was not in the starting lineup for its March 1 season finale at Oregon last season — and Terry started 14 games last season, mostly early before Mathurin broke into the lineup.

Terry took advantage of the opportunity early, dishing two assists, while recording one steal and two points over the first four minutes alone while Arizona built a quick 11-5 lead.

NAU cut Arizona’s lead to just 13-10 midway through the first half but a 3-pointer from Aiken on the left wing with eight minutes to go put UA ahead 21-15 and began their 13-0 run.

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at 573-4146 or bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter @brucepascoe