The third-ranked Arizona Wildcats continue to dominate the early part of their Pac-12 schedule. Arizona blew past Stanford 85-57 in a late Thursday night matchup from Maples Pavilion.
Hereβs how the Wildcats improved to 5-0 in conference play:
18-3: After the Cardinal scored the first basket of the game, Arizona went on an 18-3 run. Star sophomore Bennedict Mathurin had 10 points during that stretch, including a couple of 3-pointers that put the Cats comfortably ahead in the early going.
11: Stanford turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, enabling the Wildcats to take control. The Cats scored eight points off of the Cardinalβs miscues and built a lead of as many as 18 points during the half.
7: UA forward Azuolas Tubelis played just seven minutes as the sophomore went down with an ankle injury early in the first half. The big man was undercut by a Stanford player diving for a loose ball; he tried to remain in the game briefly before limping off to the locker room.
Tubelis returned to the bench later in the game in a walking boot on his left foot. His status for UAβs next game at Cal is uncertain.
21: With Tubelisβ injury and Christian Koloko dealing with foul trouble, Oumar Ballo came to the rescue. The 7-footer scored a career-high 21 points off the bench, showing off an array of post moves. He was 7 of 8 from the field while adding six rebounds and two blocks.
Ballo was Arizonaβs top scorer.
48-20: The Cats outscored the Cardinal 48-20 in the paint, making 14 of 16 layup attempts and all six dunks.
6 of 21: If there was an area of concern for Arizona, it was their 3-point shooting. UA shot just 6 of 21 (28%) from beyond the arc. Somehow, Arizona still managed to shooting 55% (31 of 56) from the field anyway.
21.6: Arizona has won its first five Pac-12 games by an average of 21.6 points, the highest margin of victory in the league. Ten of UAβs 15 wins this season have come by 20 points or more.
58.6: The Wildcats are allowing 58.6 points over their last three games. The victory over Stanford moved them into fourth in the nation in defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.com.