Pac-12 basketball: No. 16 Arizona starts fast, wins big against Arizona State

Dusan Ristic dropped in a jump hook on the game’s first shot and scored nine points in Arizona’s opening blitz. Just when Arizona State started to push back, Lauri Markkanen made three consecutive three-pointers.

Two 7-footers with diverse skills for the Wildcats, one big matchup nightmare for their opponents.

Markkanen scored a career-high 30 points, Ristic finished with 16 points and No. 16 Arizona used a dominating first half to beat rival Arizona State, 91-75, on Thursday night in Tucson, Ariz.

“They’re very skilled and they have good guard play to get those guys the ball, a good offensive plan for those guys,” Arizona State Coach Bobby Hurley said. “Markkanen can hurt you so many ways. He’s a very complete basketball player.”

Arizona (16-2, 5-0 Pac-12) turned the first of two regular-season games in this rivalry into a laugher from the opening tip. Behind a rash of three-pointers and rim-rattling dunks, the Wildcats scored the game’s first 12 points and kept pushing.

The Sun Devils (9-9, 2-3) outplayed Arizona for parts of the second half, but fell into too big of a hole after missing all nine of its shots from behind the three-point arc in the first half.

Obinna Oleka led Arizona State with 22 points and Tra Holder added 20.

at California 69, Washington 59: Ivan Rabb finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds while Jabari Bird added 16 points to lead the Golden Bears to victory.

The Huskies erased a 10-point Cal lead with a quick 10-point surge early in the second half and the game was tight until the Huskies went cold in the last 4 1/2 minutes.

The Golden Bears (12-5, 3-2 Pac 12) made 11 of 15 free throws in the second half. Crisp led the Huskies (8-8, 1-3) with 16 points and Dickerson had 13 points and nine rebounds.

at Stanford 84, Washington State 54: Robert Cartwright set a career high for the second consecutive game, scoring 21 points in the convincing victory.

Dorian Pickens added 18 points and Reid Travis had 17 for the Cardinal (9-8, 1-4 Pac-12), who stopped a four-game losing streak.

Conor Clifford scored 15 points to lead the Cougars (9-7, 2-2), who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Josh Hawkinson added 14 and Ike Iroegbu had 13.