NCAA Tournament roundup: Top-seeded Arizona opens with win over Long Island

San Diego – NCAA Tournament West Region No. 1 seed Arizona did not rely on the 3-pointer much in the regular season, but the Wildcats unleashed a first- half barrage from long range to set the tone in a 92-58 rout of No. 16 seed Long Island on Friday.

Arizona (33-2) came into the game averaging 5. 9 3-pointers made per contest. By the final media timeout before halftime, the Wildcats were already 6-for-9 from beyond the arc.

NCAA Tournament scoreboard Brayden Burries sank the sixth triple in Arizona's early 3-point salvo, part of an 18-2 run spanning a little more than six minutes and giving the Wildcats a 27-point lead. Burries connected on 4 of 5 3-pointers, all in the first half, en route to a game-high 18 points. A partisan pro-Arizona crowd erupted throughout Viejas Arena at the conclusion of the pivotal burst, particularly in response to back-to-back dunks by Koa Peat and Burries.

Long Island (24-11) shot well from deep in its own right, with Mason Porter- Brown and Jamal Fuller combining to knock down five 3-pointers by intermission, and six of the team's eight for the contest. However, the Sharks' struggle to contain the Wildcats on the interior proved insurmountable. Arizona scored 50 points in the paint, a portion of which came off of the Wildcats' 22 second-chance points.