The No. 10 University of Arizona men’s basketball team (2-0, 0-0 in Big 12) cruised to a commanding 102-44 victory over Old Dominion University on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. in McKale Center. The Wildcats showcased their dominance in the paint, outscoring the Monarchs 58-24 and showcasing their physical presence inside. The win marked Old Dominion’s most lopsided defeat since 1956, as the Wildcats beat the Monarchs by a margin of 58 points.
Tobe Awaka, a transfer from the University of Tennessee, led the charge for the Wildcats with an impressive performance, recording his first double-double with Arizona. Awaka scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. Arizona’s relentless rebounding effort resulted in 24 offensive boards, the most by the program since 2005.
“I was just, you know, a little bit more adamant about crashing the glass,” said Awaka, post-game.
Four other Wildcats reached double figures, including freshman Carter Bryant who added 12 points and Anthony Dell’Orso who scored 11 points coming off the bench. Henri Veesaar and Caleb Love contributed 10 points apiece, with Veesaar also grabbing nine rebounds. Arizona shot 50.7% from the field and dished out 21 assists, effectively moving the ball and finding open looks throughout the game.
First half
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 11-0 lead and never looked back, holding Old Dominion scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the first half. Devin Ceaser scored a jumper for the Monarchs, cutting the lead down to 14-9. Arizona proceeded to go on an 8-0 scoring run as the Wildcats led Old Dominion 32-13 with under seven minutes remaining in the first period.
Veesaar hit a shot from behind the arc to extend the lead to 22 points, preventing Old Dominion from mounting a comeback. Arizona built a commanding 50-21 lead going into halftime, highlighted by a late 13-0 scoring run in the first half that featured back-to-back 3-pointers made by Love and a put-back dunk by KJ Lewis.
Arizona collectively shot 48.7 percent from the field in the first half, holding Old Dominion to just 31.03 percent from the field. Love led Arizona with 10 first half points. Lewis and Awaka followed closely behind, putting up 8 points apiece. Awaka also led the Wildcats defensively in the first half, grabbing seven rebounds.
Second half
The Wildcats wasted no time coming out of the second half, as Trey Townsend scored a layup to cap off a 6-0 scoring run for Arizona. Soon after, Dell’Orso hit a shot from behind the arc for Arizona to further extend its lead to 70-27 with just over 11 minutes remaining. Bryant scored a dunk to give Arizona a 50-point lead. Ultimately, Old Dominion couldn’t find an answer to Arizona’s offensive and defensive pressure as the Monarchs collapsed 102-44.
Old Dominion struggled offensively, shooting just 31.6 percent from the field. Ceaser led the Monarchs with 12 points and four rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Arizona’s high-powered offense.
“I’ve really been on these guys to step it up defensively, and I think defensively we’ve been, you know, we’ve been good […]. said head coach Tommy Lloyd post-game. “The numbers say we’ve been good, maybe even better than good […]. I want more out of this team […]. I want to establish that standard you know, for our program […]. I’m satisfied with the progress, but I look forward to watching the film and getting back into practice and grinding on them again because I know that we got to make sure our defense can travel.”
Looking ahead
The Wildcats will head on the road to face the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in Madison, Wisconsin, a rematch of last December’s 98-73 Arizona win in Tucson.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
