Arizona Dominates Northern Arizona 84–49 Behind Aristode’s Hot Shooting

[WILD]

Arizona Dominates Northern Arizona 84–49 Behind Aristode's Hot Shooting

The Arizona Wildcats delivered a dominant performance Tuesday night at the McKale Center, cruising past the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 84–49 to move to 3–0 on the young season. From the opening tip, Arizona's size, speed, and depth overwhelmed NAU, who struggled to generate clean looks against one of the nation's top defensive units. Freshman guard Dwayne Aristode stole the show, scoring a career-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range, with five of those makes coming after halftime. The Wildcats shot 46.7% from the field and 42.3% from deep while holding the Lumberjacks to just 32.3% overall and 25% from beyond the arc. Arizona also dominated the glass 45–32 and turned 17 forced turnovers into 25 points, building a 29-point halftime lead that ballooned to 30 midway through the second half. NAU's 17 first-half points marked the fewest allowed by Arizona at home in nearly five years, as the Wildcats' defensive rotations and energy smothered every possession.

After the win, head coach Tommy Lloyd praised his team's balance and defensive focus, saying, "We wanted to set the tone early and make it difficult for them to breathe — the players bought into that and never let up." Aristode, who has quickly become one of Arizona's most dynamic young players, credited his preparation and teammates for his breakout night: "It's about confidence — I've been putting in the work, and tonight everything came together." Center Paulius Krivas added a season-high 12 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks, while sophomore Jaden Bradley contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists in just 20 minutes off the bench. The win extended Arizona's dominance over Northern Arizona to 37 consecutive games, underscoring the program's continued superiority in the in-state rivalry. With three comfortable victories to open the season, the Wildcats look like a team ready to contend on the national stage once again.

Arizona now turns its focus to a marquee road matchup against UCLA this weekend — a rematch of last season's December clash in Phoenix, where the Bruins edged the Wildcats 57–54 in a defensive thriller. In that contest, UCLA rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit, led by Tyler Bilodeau's 17 points and clutch free throws from Skyy Clark in the closing seconds. Arizona's Jaden Bradley paced the Wildcats with 12 points, but the team's 22 turnovers and late-game misses proved costly. Reflecting on that loss, Lloyd said, "That one still stings — we had control and let it slip away, but this group is hungry to show how far we've come." The matchup stands as Arizona's second major test of the season — and a chance for redemption against a former Pac-12 rival that spoiled their momentum a year ago.

[WILD]

https://x.com/AZATHLETICS/status/1988465519058710677?t=yqOeC0hc5jMNu9XJMP89OA&s=19

[arxpert]

Dominant is a pretty strong word to use.

Unless NAU is going to March Madness or at least to the Finals of their Conference Tournament, this was an underperformance by Arizona under Tommy's tutelage.

I marked it as "A Win is a Win, and we take those".

[KansasCityCats]

NAU had more steals than Arizona.  That's the only stat that we can't claim as "dominant".  No other statistic was close in this matchup. 

[arxpert]

NAU had more steals than Arizona.  That's the only stat that we can't claim as "dominant".  No other statistic was close in this matchup. 

Tommy isn't a guy who has his guys running suicides like "Coach Carter" for playing down to an opponent.