No. 2 Arizona beats Mount St. Mary's by 23
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Tucson, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Brandon Ashley had 21 points, Rondae Hollis- Jefferson scored 15 and No. 2 Arizona opened its season with a 78-55 win over Mount St. Mary's on Friday night.
Kaleb Tarczewski added 10 points for the Wildcats (1-0), who came within one win of making the Final Four last season.
"It was good to get started again after a long offseason. Tonight's crowd was amazing," said Arizona coach Sean Miller. "We played well in stretches as a team. There were times where we didn't, which is expected in our first game."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Kristijan Krajina had 13 points to lead Mount St. Mary's (0-1) and Byron Ashe scored 12.
The Mountaineers beat Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference championship game last season to make a surprise NCAA Tournament appearances but lost to Albany in the First Four.
They fell to 1-22 all-time against ranked teams, including 0-5 against teams ranked first or second.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Although the Mountaineers never led, they hung around until a flurry at the end of the first half gave Arizona a big lead.
The score was tied with 8 1/2 minutes left in the half and the Mountaineers were within 28-25 later on before the Wildcats ripped off the last 12 points to take a 40-25 lead at halftime.
The last six points came on three consecutive dunks by Ashley and Hollis- Jefferson, who had the last two. Ashley led all players with 12 points in the half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Mount St. Mary's was as close as seven points with 11 minutes remaining in the game before a 12-0 Arizona run.
Game Notes
Arizona's next game is Sunday in Tucson against Cal State Northridge as part of the Maui Invitational ... The Mountaineers' second game is against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Wednesday. The program's only win over a top-25 team came at No. 21 Georgia Tech on Dec. 18, 1995.