No. 3 Arizona rolls in second half, tops Oregon State

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Tommy Lloyd's first season as the coach of the Arizona Wildcats has been nearly flawless.

He admitted this wasn't his best moment, even if the final result was just fine.

Azuolas Tubelis scored 22 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 20 and No. 3 Arizona pulled away in the second half after a slow start to beat Oregon State 83-69 on State on Thursday night.

"I'm going to wear that one today," Lloyd said. "That's on me. We got a little too tricky with our game-planning. To be a good team, you can't trick the game."

It all worked out in the end for Lloyd and the Wildcats (23-2, 13-1 Pac-12), who have won seven straight and maintained a two-game advantage in the conference. Christian Koloko added 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and had nine rebounds.

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Arizona center Christian Koloko blocks the shot of Oregon State center Roman Silva (12) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Tubelis and Koloko were terrific close to the basket, allowing Arizona to shake off a tough shooting night from long range. The Wildcats were just 4 of 18 (22.2%) from behind the arc but scored 52 points in the paint.

"That's a good thing about our team," Koloko said. "We've got different pieces. When we're not shooting well, we still have bigs like me, Oumar (Ballo) and Azoulas. They just deliver it inside and every time we get the ball, we play hard."

Oregon State (3-21, 1-13) has lost 11 straight, going winless since beating Utah on Dec. 30. The Beavers have had a tough time with injuries this season and had just seven scholarship players