NCAA Tournament 2017, Arizona vs North Dakota: Highlights, score and recap

Would Arizona be able to put away No. 15 North Dakota in the 2017 NCAA Tournament?

Arizona comes into the 2017 NCAA Tournament as a favorite to get out of their region and move to the Final Four. However, there’s still a long journey to go before getting there, which started with their game against North Dakota on Thursday night. Who would win this?

The first half was all Arizona, who broke out with 53 points. Freshman sensation Lauri Markkanen put up 16 points and six rebounds, which is usually a game-high for most top players. Rawle Atkins also had nine points and three assists.

North Dakota struggled from the field, shooting just 42.9 percent. Drick Bernstein had a double-double through just 20 minutes, however, with his 12 points and 10 rebounds. Would he and the Fighting Hawks be able to make a comeback?

The second half saw North Dakota claw their way back in the early minutes, but the Pac-12 Champions fired back with six consecutive points to take a 74-61 lead with 10 minutes to go. That pretty much put the game away, as they even stretched it to a 10-0 run.

RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket

With five minutes to go, the Arizona lead was at 21 points. It made the time move fast and swiftly led to them moving on to the next round with a score of 100-82.

Three Stars

1. Lauri Markkanen, Arizona – Markkanen had an efficient night for the Wildcats, putting up 20 points and six rebounds on eight of 12 shooting.
2. Allonzo Trier, Arizona – Trier had 18 points and seven rebounds in the convincing win over North Dakota.
3. Drick Bernstein, North Dakota – Despite being blown out, Bernstein had a great game with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Highlights

What’s Next?

Arizona will move to the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament to face St. Mary’s, who defeated VCU. North Dakota will head home and look to rebound for the 2017-18 season.