TUCSON, Ariz. – San Jose State men's basketball was unable to find much success as No. 19 Arizona showed why they are one of the top teams in the nation Thursday evening at the McKale Center. The Wildcats scored 48 second half points to cruise to an 87-39 win.
Neither team shot the ball well to start the contest with the teams combining for a 3-for-15 start from the floor at the first media timeout. That trend didn't last long as the Wildcats (3-0) found their offensive rhythm and finished the period with a 48.5 percent clip (16-33) while knocking down five 3-pointers.
SJSU unfortunately couldn't match and closed the half just 7-of-33 (21.2 percent). Seven early turnovers resulted in 10 of Arizona's 39 points. The Wildcats used a 15-3 run over the final 4:49 to take a 39-17 lead into the locker room.
The Spartans didn't go away quietly as they came out of the locker room with newfound energy and scored the first nine points of the half to cut the score to 40-26 before a Wildcat trey ended the run.
The Wildcats then used a 24-2 run that spanned 6:20 to put the game out of hand with less than six minutes remaining. Arizona finished the game shooting 48 percent (30-of-62). Freshman Zeke Nnaji led all scorers with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
SJSU finished the night with a 23 percent shooting clip (14-of-61) and struggled from downtown going 2-for-18 beyond the arc. Turnovers proved to be an issue as 18 of them led to 25 Wildcat points.
Eduardo Lane, making his third-straight start after transferring in from Marshalltown Community College, had a productive evening as he scored a team-high nine points and pulled down four rebounds.
With the loss, SJSU drops to 1-2, but has three-straight home games ahead to ready the ship. The Spartans kick off the home swing on Sunday against Simpson University before hosting Grambling State and Portland State next week.