The best way to get over a gut-wrenching loss is to get a blowout win from the next game. That’s what the Arizona men’s basketball team did Monday afternoon in the third round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tipoff in Athens, Ga., defeating Mississippi Valley State 86-52 to wash away Tuesday night’s last-second loss to Alabama-Birmingham.

“”It’s always good coming off a loss to get a win,”” said forward Chase Budinger. “”I thought we had a great week of practice. I think everybody forgot all about that loss we had and just moved on.””

Budinger led the charge for Arizona (2-1), scoring 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting against the Delta Devils (0-6). UA forward Jordan Hill, who hails from Atlanta, Ga., chipped in with 19 points.

Arizona controlled the game from the beginning, scoring the first 12 points of the game, with 8 coming from Hill. The Wildcats went on a 13-0 run midway through the first half to give them a 29-8 lead.

Still, Budinger said they could have done better.

“”We came out kind of sloppy in the beginning,”” Budinger said. “”We just started knocking down shots and getting the ball inside to Jordan, and once we started doing that, we just played our game.””

Using a 2-3 zone, 1-1-3 zone and some man-to-man sprinkled in, the Wildcats held the Devils to 20-for-58 from the floor (34.5 percent shooting), including just 2-for-19 from beyond the 3-point arc. MVSU made two of its 23 field goal attempts to start the game. After missing its first 13 shots overall, the Delta Devils finally got on the board with a Shannon Behling jumper 6:57 into the game.

“”I was proud of how my players played tonight because I saw things that we had been practicing,”” said UA interim head coach Russ Pennell. “”We’ve been working on the 2-3 zone and the 1-1-3 zone, and tonight both of those were effective.””

Freshman guard Garland Judkins got the start for the Wildcats in place of forward Fendi Onobun. He scored a career-high 12 points in just 24 minutes.

“”It’s what I’ve always dreamed of, coming to Arizona, and my dreams came true,”” Judkins said on 1290 AM “”The Source”” after the game.

“”We got better experience-wise,”” Judkins said. “”We’re a very young team and every time we touch the floor we get better.””

– Fletcher Page of Georgia’s

The Red & Black contributed reporting

And 1

Pennell played all 12 players, including walk-on freshman D.J. Shumpert, who played in his first collegiate game, pulling down three rebounds and dishing out an assist in four minutes of work.