Sports hangovers aren’t the worst of their kind, but they’re no fun. Just ask Arizona, which trailed unheralded Southern by five midway through the first half three days before one of the biggest non-conference wins in program history.
But once the cobwebs were shaken off, the Wildcats shifted into gear and defeated the Tigers 97-59 on Monday night at McKale Center.
Keshad Johnson had a career-high 17 points, including 15 in the first half Motiejus Krivas And KJ Lewis had 12. Three other Wildcats scored in double figures, giving them 19 players in the first three games Caleb Love the only starter who didn’t reach 10. He had nine points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Despite a terrible start, the UA shot 53.4 percent and was 28 of 36 from the line while outrebounding Southern 54-24.
Arizona also scored 23 goals, one fewer than in the first two games, contributing to 19 points for the Tigers (1-2). Seven of those draws occurred in the first five minutes, a good sign that the UA was still dreaming of its 78-73 win at then-No. 2 Duke on Friday.
A 19-4 run gave Arizona a 35-23 halftime lead after trailing by as many as five early. The Wildcats scored the last seven points of the first half and the first ten of the second half, followed by another 16-2 run.
They outscored Southern 60-18 over the next 20 minutes after trailing 17-12 with 11-13 left in the first half.
The Wildcats turned the ball over 14 times in the first half and missed 10 of their first 13 shots, but made up for it by attempting 21 free throws for a total of 15.
A 9-0 run midway through the first half gave the UA the lead for good, a run that included a dunk by Johnson off an alley-oop pass Filip Borovicanin and was crowned by a Kylan Boswell 3-pointer.
Southern missed the last 15 shots of the first half and shot 19.4 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Arizona is back at McKale vs. Belmont on Friday night.
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