Arizona Wildcats blow out Texas-Arlington 101-56 at McKale Center

For the second time in three days, Arizona watched a mid-major opponent put on a 3-point shooting exhibition, then shut it down and rebranded the event as a blowout victory.

This one, Arizona's 101-56 win over Texas-Arlington on Sunday at McKale Center, was just a little bit scarier for the Wildcats.

While UA started turning a 14-14 tie with Belmont into a 100-68 blowout win after just four minutes Friday, Arizona this time sat mired in a 37-37 tie with less than 90 seconds left in the first half thanks in part to UTA’s 6-for-10 3-point shooting before halftime.

The difference in the Wildcats' even slower start Sunday, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said, had a lot to do with effort and focus.

"I feel we were a little more locked in against Belmont," he said. "Our effort wasn't there on loose balls and some rebounding things early, and some of the situations where we wanted to take advantage and pressure them.

"That's what happens but it's great to learn that stuff."

The Wildcats found their focus in plenty of time. They took off from the 37-37 tie by going on a 6-0 run the rest of the first half and turned that into a 33-2 run that stretched over halftime, flipping the game into a homecourt party again.

Arizona (5-0) now owns four lopsided home wins and a four-point victory at Duke heading into another high-major showdown Thursday against Michigan State in Thousand Palms, Calif.

The Wildcats' typically balanced offense had seven players all scoring in double figures, led by Kylan Boswell and Oumar Ballo with 15 each. Reserve guard Jaden Bradley and wing Pelle Larsson added 13 each, while Keshad Johnson had 11 and both Caleb Love and Motiejas Krivas had 10 points.

Bradley, who made 5 of 7 shots while also collecting four rebounds and two assists without a turnover, said playing Sunday's game was the most comfortable he's felt this season. A former five-star recruit, Bradley has been adjusting to a reserve role after starting most of last season for Alabama.

"Definitely," Bradley said. "Just a couple of games under my belt. Coach is in my ear. My teammates are in my ear, just giving me that confidence. It just felt great today."

Despite some lingering issues after taking a hit to the knee recently, Ballo also felt pretty good Sunday. Because he needed to play only 15 minutes against Belmont on Friday and 20 on Sunday against UTA while Krivas took care of business inside.

After dropping 20 points on Belmont on Friday, Krivas returned to score his 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting inside.

"It is a big relief when you get a guy who can come in and do just as good as you can do and also keep foul pressure on other bigs, which will help me down the stretch," Ballo said. "I'm really grateful that we have him here."

With four rebounds, Ballo also had an extra source of help on the glass, too: Guard KJ Lewis pulled down nine rebounds while also scoring four points.

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Not surprisingly, after the game, Ballo said he believes the Wildcats really have eight starters, eight guys who could start for any team, and that this is the most complete team he's been a part of.

"By far," Ballo said. "I feel like we have guys in every position who can come in and lift us up."

As it turned out, Texas-Arlington's leading scorer was an Arizonan: Shemar Wilson, a senior forward from Avondale, led the Mavericks with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

But Wilson's efforts weren't nearly enough for a team that cooled off notably in the second half, when it shot just 25.0% overall and made only 1 of 15 3-point shots.

Overall, UTA shot just 34% overall for the game while Arizona hit 52.8% of its shots.

Up 43-37 at halftime after its 6-0 run to finish out the first half, Arizona extended its run to 20-0 with another 14 unanswered points to start the first half. The Wildcats scored four points off UTA turnovers during that stretch, while the Mavericks missed all eight 3-pointers they tried.

"We came out (after halftime) with more ball pressure, contesting more shots," Bradley said. "It was helping our offense flow in transition as well."

Arizona stretched it all the way to a 33-2 run over both halves before Wilson scored inside to make it 70-41 with 10:48 to go.

From there, after using just eight players in the first half and early in the second, Lloyd put in reserve wing Filip Borovicanin and forward Paulius Murauskas. Freshman guard Conrad Martinez also entered the game with six minutes left and Arizona leading 87-44 and the Wildcats coasted the rest of the way.

"I just think the lesson is that success and winning doesn't come easy," Lloyd said. "It always has to be based with effort, and you layer with intelligence and passion and unselfishness. Now you've got something.

"But if you don't put all those things together, you're gonna come up a little bit short. So I was kind of happy how we responded."

Sunday’s game was technically an add-on to the Acrisure Classic, in which the Wildcats will also face the 18th-ranked Spartans on Thursday in Thousand Palms, Calif. Michigan State was ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll but has lost to James Madison and Duke. 

"We're fired up," Lloyd said. "We get an opportunity to go play one of the great programs in college basketball. Coach (Tom) Izzo is someone I really look up to. They're a program that's built on grit and fight.

"They're going to take this as an opportunity to come play another national caliber program. I know they're going to take a big swing and we're going to do the same."

Photos: No. 3 Arizona Wildcats blow out Texas-Arlington Mavericks in Tucson, 101-56