AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Freshman guard Caleb Holt had 24 points and nine rebounds in a return to his home state, and No. 12 Arizona took over down the stretch to turn back Auburn’s second-half rally in an 80-69 victory Friday night.
Ivan Kharchenkov added 19 points and eight rebounds, and Motiejus Krivas finished with 16 points and 12 boards for the Wildcats (3-1). Derek Dixon scored 11.
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Holt, a highly touted recruit who grew up in Alabama, also made five steals.
Thomas Dowd had 15 points and nine rebounds to pace the Tigers (2-1), who erased a 14-point deficit after halftime and went ahead 61-59 with 7:12 left. But then Kharchenkov keyed a 9-0 spurt with five points and an assist, and the Wildcats never looked back again.
Auburn had won 69 straight home games against non-conference opponents.
Arizona went 18 for 22 (82%) from the free-throw line, while Auburn was 12 for 20 (60%). The Tigers also shot just 35% from the field (23 of 66), including 11 for 31 from 3-point territory (35%).
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Dowd went 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, but Auburn was outrebounded 49-37.
Coming out of halftime, Arizona went on a 10-0 run in less than three minutes to turn a 36-32 lead at the break into a 14-point cushion. Holt and Krivas each converted a three-point play during the spurt.
But the Tigers drained four 3s to tie the score at 53 about 6 1/2 minutes later.
Up next
Arizona hosts No. 4 UConn on Wednesday night.
Auburn plays West Virginia on Tuesday night.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
