It took Dwayne Aristode almost two full games to attempt his first collegiate shot. But since that first take he’s hardly missed.
Aristode tied a school freshman record with six 3-pointers, five in the second half, en route to 18 points to lead No. 5 Arizona to am 84-49 win over NAU on Tuesday night at McKale Center.
The Wildcats (3-0) held the Lumberjacks to 32.3 percent shooting and 17 first-half points, blocking nine shots and recording 10 steals in the first meeting since 2021. It was Arizona’s
37th straight victory in the series.
Aristode was 6 of 10 from the field, 6 of 9 from deep, matching the freshman mark previous achieved by Bennedict Mathurin, Jerryd Bayless, Salim Stoudamire and Mike Bibby. He is 7 of 11 from 3 and 9 of 14 overall this season.
Jaden Bradley had 13 points in 20 minutes, Motiejus Krivas had 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks and Tobe Awaka and Koa Peat each had 10 for Arizona, which shot 46.7 percent overall and made 11 of 26 from 3. The Wildcats had only made nine 3s in their first two games.
Arizona led 46-17 at the half, its fewest points allowed in the opening 20 minutes since USC had 16 at halftime in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament and fewest at McKale since giving up 17 to ASU in 2020.
Krivas was a one-man wrecking crew early in the second half, scoring six points with two blocks and two rebounds in a span of just over two minutes.
NAU finally got to 20 points with 12:57 left, but Arizona had only scored eight second-half points to that point. The Lumberjacks hit the 30-point mark with 8:49 to go and scored 19 in the final 7:01 to avoid their lowest point total in four years.
Burries had a 4-point play on Arizona’s opening possession but then NAU took a brief 1-point lead. The Wildcats trailed for 39 seconds before going on a 10-0 run, aided by a technical foul against Lumberjacks coach Shane Burcar.
A 22-2 run, including 16 straight, put Arizona up 43-13 with 2:25 left in the first half.
The Wildcats hit the road for the next two games, beginning Friday against No. 15 UCLA at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. After that is a midweek trip to No. 3 UConn before the UA returns home Nov. 24 against Denver.
