Wildcats wear down Anteaters

Arizona Wildcats Basketball



The second-ranked Arizona Wildcats struggled with visiting UC Irvine at McKale tonight -- until the eight-minute mark of the second half, that is.

Arizona went on a 15-0 run and the Anteaters went scoreless for six minutes and the Wildcats pulled away for a 71-54 win to improve to 3-0 on the season. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Wildcats with 19 points, while point-guard T.J. McConnell chipped in 12 points to go along with six steals, four assists and nine rebounds. Stanley Johnson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

As for UC Irvine's 7-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, he scores nine points in the first half, but wasn't a factor in the second half as the Anteaters simply ran out of gas down the stretch and the Wildcats' smothering defense took its toll.

The Wildcats head for the Maui Invitational and a first-round matchup on Monday against Missouri.