BearDownU - The #1 Arizona Wildcats Sports Source!

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With all of the high praise surrounding Arizona's returning stars, its stellar freshman class, and Final Four aspirations, let it be known the hype is real. At the very least, it was an incredible first impression on Sunday to start its three-game tour in Spain.

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Freshman guard Brandon Randolph caught fire for 21 points in his debut, Allonzo Trier poured in 16, Dylan Smith had 14, and Rawle Alkins and Deandre Ayton each added 10 each as the Wildcats dismantled Combinado Valenciano 113-44 in Valencia.

From hot shooting to suffocating defense, Arizona didn't need to knock off any sort of rust. It was a commanding performance from the tip, one that stretched the lead to 70 points late, and showed why this squad is at the top of the preseason rankings for the 2017-18 season.

Dusan Ristic also added 14 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Official Box Score
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Some observations from watching the FloHoops.com streaming coverage:

• The announcers kept referring to Arizona's opponent as Valencia's ACB champion team. If that were true, it would have been a much different game. The ACB players are now scattered because it is the offseason. This was a collection of players assembled to face them, and they probably haven't practiced much together, either.

• The host team appeared to really tire after the middle of the third quarter and almost quit playing defense. UA led 53-27 at halftime and 86-32 at the end of the third quarter.

• All that's not to take away from Arizona's impressive performance. The Wildcats moved the ball well, mostly took smart shots and defended at a pretty high level considering it was only an exhibition game in August.

• Randolph looked like a strong contender to be UA's sixth man, scoring in a variety of ways.

• The starting lineup was exactly the same one that everybody expects on opening night: Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Trier, Alkins, Ayton and Ristic. In a pregame video, Trier can be heard leading the huddle.


• Alex Barcello mostly served as backup point guard, and made some typically aggressive drives to the rim.

• Dylan Smith, who will also be fighting for minutes in the backcourt, hit some long-range shots and made some well-executed passes.

• Emmanuel Akot looks physically ready, even as he was supposed to be entering his senior year of high school, scoring on a 3-pointer and spin move to the basket.


• Ayton didn't have the ball a whole lot but did some impressive things when he did. He made a rebound basket appear almost effortless, and mixed in dunks with face-up jumpers.

• The Wildcats actually might have scored more points if a couple of drives for dunks weren't waved off because of travel calls. The game was played and officiated under FIBA rules.

• UA coach Sean Miller played the redshirting Chase Jeter and three walk-ons, though he did not play Talbott Denny, who tore his ACL a year ago.

• Looked like there were about 60 or so UA fans who made the trip to see the Wildcats, while maybe a handful of locals showed up, though only one side of the stands was visible on the stream.

Don't miss the final two games from Barcelona on Wednesday and Friday live on FloHoops.

HOW TO WATCH
Barcelona go to flohoops.com
Game 2: Wednesday, August 16 (10:10 AM MT)
Game 3: Friday, August 18 (10:10 AM MT)

On TV: AppleTV 4 and Roku via the FloSports App