Arizona men’s basketball completes perfect November with blowout win over Norfolk State

Titles aren’t won in November, but it can be when championship habits are developed. And for the fourth time in five seasons under Tommy Lloyd, Arizona is finishing off the first month of the season without a blemish.

The second-ranked Wildcats played with their food for the first 10 or so minutes before flipping a switch and rolling past Norfolk State 98-61 on Saturday afternoon at McKale Center.

Motiejus Krivas tied a career high with 20 points, adding nine rebounds and two blocks, Anthony Dell’Orso and Koa Peat had 16 points apiece, Brayden Burries had 15 and Tobe Awaka 13 for the Wildcats, which shot 56.1 percent overall but were just 2 of 11 from 3.

Arizona (7-0) went to the line 46 times, tying the most foul shot attempts under Lloyd, making 32, while Norfolk State (4-5) was 2 9 from the line. The UA shot 26 free throws in the first half, the most before halftime of any game since at least the start of the 1996-97 season.

After allowing 26 points to the Spartans in the field 13:06 of the game, Arizona outscored them 73-35 the rest of the way including by 22 in the second half.

Up 47-32 at the half, Arizona hit the 50-point mark on its first possession of the 2nd half on a 3-pointer by Burries. The Wildcats had missed all five from outside in the 1st half.

On the next possessionDell’Orso missed a free throw, ending a string of 40 consecutive makes dating back to last December. Salim Stoudamire had made 39 straight in 2001-02, all within one season.

A 3-point play by Krivas got the lead to 20 with 17:40 left, then Dell’Orso hit a corner 3 to make it 68-38 with 13:25 remaining. The only drama left was whether Arizona would cover the 35.5-point spread, leading by as many as 43 before garbage time scoring by Norfolk cut the lead to 33 only to see walk-on Sven Djopmo hit a layup with seven seconds left for the cover.

Arizona started 1 of 6 from the field but countered that by attempting nine free throws in the first five-plus minutes. The Wildcats were in the bonus with 10:36 left in the first half.

Norfolk State led 22-20 with 9:18 to go in the half on a 3-pointer by Elijah Jamison, the fourth made triple for the Spartans in the first 11 minutes. The Spartans were up 26-25 before the UA scored seven in a row to take a 6-point lead, but during that stretch Ivan Kharchenkov took a spill on a drive with 5:34 remaining before halftime.

Kharchenkov stayed down under the north basket for a few minutes before limping off, favoring his left leg. He did not return to the bench and Dell’Orso started in his place for the second half.

The UA outscored Norfolk State 22-6 to end the half including a 12-2 run over the final 3:34.

Arizona is off until Dec. 6 when it hosts No. 21 Auburn, the first of back-to-back games against ranked opponents including a Dec. 13 matchup with No. 8 Alabama in Birmingham.