TUCSON, Ariz. — Kaleb Tarczewski scored 11 points and No. 1 Arizona opened its Pacific-12 Conference season with a 60-25 rout of Washington State on Thursday night, shattering the McKale Center record for fewest points by a team.
The previous McKale record for fewest points was 37 by Northern Arizona in 1989.
The 25 points were the fewest for Washington State since the Cougars had that many at Idaho on Jan. 15, 1938.
The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) took a 21-2 lead and were up 28-7 at halftime.
The Cougars (7-6, 0-1) shot 9 for 45 from the field and they needed to make a series of shots late to reach that.
Washington State was without leading scorer DaVonte Lacy, who underwent an emergency appendectomy on Saturday. Junior Longrus led the Cougars with six points.
Tarczewski, back after missing two games with a sprained ankle, was the only Arizona player to score in double figures.
Washington State’s nine field goals were also a McKale record, breaking the previous mark of 13, also set by Northern Arizona in that 1989 game. So was the Cougars’ 20 percent shooting, breaking the mark of 20.3 percent set by NAU that night 24 years ago.
The Cougars missed their first 16 shots before Royce Woolridge made a layup with 6:42 left in the half. Arizona led 21-2 on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 8:18 to go until the break.
Washington State made it 21-7 before the Wildcats scored the final seven points of the half to lead 28-7.
The Cougars were 2 of 20 from the field in the first half, breaking the McKale record of four field goals set twice, most recently by Arizona State in 1991. It was also a record for fewest points by a team in a half and fewest combined points in a half. The old record was 37 against Oregon in 1985.
The 9.5 percent shooting percentage was also an arena record for a half.
Washington State officials were unsure what the team records for fewest points or field goals in a half were but said Thursday’s totals were the lowest since at least 2001. Arizona officials didn’t know if the Washington State marks were an opponent low for any Wildcats’ game, including those before McKale was built.
Lacy, who is averaging 18.9 points per game, will also miss Sunday’s game at Arizona State.
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