TUCSON -- Nic Wise had 15 points, seven assists and five steals and Jamelle Horne scored eight of his 13 in the final 5 1/2 minutes to help Arizona pull away from Rice 66-49 on Thursday night.
Solomon Hill and Derrick Williams scored 12 and 10, respectively, for Arizona, 2-0 under new coach Sean Miller.
Arsalan Kazemi, the first Iranian to play major college basketball, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Owls (3-1). Tamir
Jackson added 11 points for Rice.
The Owls, down 24-6 in the first half, narrowed the lead to six in the second, using a 9-1 run to make it 44-38 on Connor
Frizzelle's driving floater in the lane with 13:20 to play.
The teams traded baskets, then Arizona scored the next six. Hill made a baseline layup, Wise sank a 16-footer and Williams had a dunk. The Wildcats led 52-40 with 10 minutes to play and Rice never got it to single digits again.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
