Walton hurt as 'Zona routs in-state rival
Thomas leads way for Texas


TUCSON, Ariz. - Will Bynum scored a career-high 18 points, all on 3-pointers, but No. 1 Arizona lost Luke Walton to a sprained right ankle in a 101-66 rout of Northern Arizona Wednesday night.

Jason Gardner scored 24, including five of six 3-pointers, and the Lumberjacks committed 26 turnovers against the Wildcats' trapping, full-court defense.

Freshman Hassan Adams added 21 points as five Arizona players reached double figures.

Walton left the game with 15:42 to play in the first half and did not return. The team trainer said the injury was in a different place than a sprain in the same ankle that sidelined Walton for the first exhibition game.

The extent of the injury will be re-evaluated when the swelling goes down.

Arizona (2-0) also didn't have Salim Stoudamire, last year's Pac-10 freshman of the year, who has yet to play this season because of a sprained left ankle.

Kelly Golob scored 14, including four of seven 3s, while Ryan McDade and Aaron Bond added 12 points each.

The Lumberjacks (1-2) of the Big Sky Conference, who were listed as 34-point underdogs by oddsmakers, stayed with the Wildcats throughout the first half and trailed just 44-39 at the break but were blown out 57-27 after that.

Arizona scored the first 13 points of the second half to go up 57-39 on Adams' layup, which followed a Northern Arizona turnover.

Channing Frye's 14-footer made it 61-41 with 15:32 to play. Golob's two 3-pointers and one by Kyle Feuerbach cut it to 63-50 with 12:39 remaining. But Gardner's three-point play and layup boosted the lead to 68-50.

Northern Arizona briefly cut the lead to 70-56 on Bond's stuff with 10:10 to go, then Arizona put it away with a 16-2 run, punctuated by Gardner's final 3-pointer.

Kodiak Yazzie's basket put Northern Arizona up for the last time, 29-28, with seven minutes left in the half. Arizona finally put together an 8-0 run to go up 36-29 on Rick Anderson's two free throws with 5:07 left until halftime.

But the pesky Lumberjacks came back with an 8-2 spurt to cut the lead to 38-37 on Kyle Feuerbach's dunk with 1:34 to go in the half. Gardner's 3-pointer with 3 seconds left gave Arizona a 36-31 halftime lead.

Walk-on Fil Torres sank a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to put Arizona over the century mark and beat the 34-point spread.

The Wildcats' first two opponents - Western Kentucky and Northern Arizona - committed 54 turnovers against Arizona. The Wildcats won those games by a combined 208-124.

Arizona doesn't play again until next Tuesday at home against Saint Louis.

The word is that Walton will play on Tuesday. As I have seen with Josh Howard a high ankle sprain is something that can nag a player for an entire season and I am worried that will be the case with Walton.

That said, it gives their freshmen Hassan Adams and Andre Igoudala a chance to get some quality PT before the tough games start up.

I don't know if anyone has had a chance to watch 'Zona play yet this year, but there isn't a more entertaining team in hoops right now.

NAU is not really a rival to UA or ASU whatsoever, in most sports they are not D1. Is Jon Mackovic OK, he is 3-13 in pac ten games since taking the helm. Nice to see the Cats finish last in the pac.

Scumdevil - if you have been paying any attention at all you would know that I absolutely despise Mackovic not only for what he has done to what was once a decent Arizona football program but also for blatantly using Wake Forest(both mine and his alma-mater) as a stepping stone to larger programs.

Congrats on your win in Tucson. Thank you for not trashing our stadium this time.