Love scored 17 points and 10th place. Arizona opens the season with a 93-64 win over Canisius.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Caleb Love had 17 points and six assists, Jayden Bradley added 15 points and No. 10 Arizona opened coach Tommy Lloyd’s fourth season with a 93-64 win over Canisius on Monday night.

Arizona pounced on the Golden Griffins from the start, scoring the first 13 points of the first 20-2 run to take a 52-30 lead into halftime. The Wildcats never let the lead drop below 18 after that early spurt, winning their 18th straight home opener.

Arizona dominated inside the game, outscoring Canisius 48-12 in the paint and grabbing 18 more rebounds. KJ Lewis added 14 points for the Wildcats, who had 20 assists and nine turnovers — five before starting.

The Golden Griffins needed four minutes to score their first points and struggled with Arizona’s size all night, but still shot a respectable 43% from the floor in one of college basketball’s toughest road conditions.

Paul McMillan IV led Canisius with 20 points.

Takeaway

Canisius: The Golden Griffins had some good moments, especially on offense after a slow start, but they dug themselves too big a hole early on to avoid elimination.

Arizona: The Wildcats did what they had to do against superior non-conference opponents at home and showed depth that has them looking to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Key Point

Love’s return after testing the waters in the NBA was a huge boost for the Wildcats and earned him preseason All-America honors. He made his presence felt right out of the gate, scoring seven points during Arizona’s big opening run.

Key Statistics

Arizona had a huge size advantage with two 7-footers in the rotation and took advantage on the glass. The Wildcats grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points.

Next

Canisius hosts St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

Arizona will host Old Dominion on Saturday.