Jamelle Horne recorded the second double-double of his career, with 14 points and 11 rebounds, to help the Sean Miller era begin on a winning note with a 87-71 victory over NAU at McKale Center Sunday.
Solomon Hill added a team-high 17 points while Nic Wise added 15 points and four assists as the Wildcats shot 48.4 percent from the field. Arizona (1-0) will host Rice on Thursday before heading to the Maui Invitational next week.
NAU, which received a game-high 29 points from guard Cameron Jones, dropped to 1-1.
Arizona was playing without reserve wing Kevin Parrom. The program announced before the game that the freshman from New York suffered a stress fracture in his left foot and will be out at least a month.
Even without Parrom, Miller still went deep on his bench, using eight players regularly and a ninth, guard Garland Judkins, sparingly. He did not play center Alex Jacobson, however.
But the Wildcats did not manage to pull away from NAU in the second half after leading by 20 at halftime.
While Hill scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, the Wildcats shot only 38.7 percent overall in the second half.
In the first half, Horne scored nine points, with four rebounds and three steals to lead Arizona to a 51-31 halftime lead.
Wise added nine points and three assists, while Hill and Kyryl Natyazhko each had seven points and four rebounds for the Wildcats before halftime.
NAU was led in the half by Cameron Jones, who had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, but the Lumberjacks shot only 37.9 percent overall from the field.
Arizona went on an 11-4 run midway through the first half to take a 29-15 lead over the Lumberjacks. At the end of the run, Horne scored, then blocked a shot that set up a coast-to-coast basket by Hill.
The Wildcats began to pull away late in the second half, when Brendon Lavender hit two three-pointers and Kyle Fogg hit one, giving UA a 44-28 lead.
Parrom, who watched the game in a sweatsuit and protective boot, left UA's exhibition against Western New Mexico early on Tuesday after suffering what UA coach Sean Miller said was a "mid-foot sprain."
On Thursday, Miller said that X-rays did not reveal any other damage and that he expected the injury would be day-to-day instead of long term.
Parrom, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound, freshman guard/forward from New York, averaged 8.0 point, 2.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in Arizona's two exhibition games. A UA statement noted the normal recovery time for Parrom's type of stress fracture is four to eight weeks.
