Arizona Crusies By Aztecs

TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) -- Nic Wise waited till the second half to make a big splash. Wise scored a season-high 12 points - all in the second half - as No. 19 Arizona cruised past San Diego State, 74-58, on Saturday.

Jordan Hill had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger scored 15 and 13, respectively, for the Wildcats (9-2), who have won a season-high five straight games. Arizona is playing its best basketball under interim coach Kevin O'Neill at just the right time.

Next Saturday, the Wildcats meet their toughest foe when they travel to No. 2 Memphis, who knocked off No. 4 Georgetown, 85-71, earlier today. The 5-9 Wise, who was scoreless at the half, made his presence felt when the Wildcats needed him most. Hill had given Arizona a 36-26 lead on a dunk just 41 seconds into the second half, but a layup by Billy White cut San Diego State's deficit to 42-38 at the 14:47 mark.

However, the Wildcats outscored the Aztecs, 17-10, over the next 7 1/2 minutes, capped by Wise's second straight 3-pointer. The sophomore, who was 5-of-7 from the floor, then had consecutive baskets to help push the lead out to 70-54 with 2:51 left to put the game away.

The Wildcats, who shot 54 percent (32-of-59), made 19-of-32 (59 percent) from the field in the second half to pull away. Kyle Spain had 20 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Amoroso added 11 and eight for the Aztecs (9-3), who have lost the last six to the Wildcats and have dropped 13 of 14 meetings in the series here.