The No. 6 Arizona Wildcats defeated the No. 11 Belmont Bruins, 81-64, in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament on Thursday at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.
NCAA Tournament 2013 scores, Arizona vs. Belmont: Wildcats rout Bruins, 81-64
Mark Lyons and sixth-seeded Arizona quickly put an end to all of the upset talk surrounding Belmont on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
For more on this game, head over to AZ Desert Swarm.
Mark Lyons scored 23 points to lead the Wildcats, who will move on to face the either the No. 3 New Mexico Lobos or No. 14 Harvard Crimson in the third round on Saturday. Despite Lyons' offensive effort, defense and rebounding proved to be the key to the Wildcats' blowout win.
Belmont entered the game as a trendy upset pick behind the nation's fourth-best offense in terms of field goal percentage. However, Arizona held the Bruins to a 40-percent effort from the field and imposed its will on the glass, outrebounding Belmont, 41-15.
Still, Lyons' effort won't go unnoticed. The senior out of Schenectady, N.Y., fueled a first-half run that gave the Wildcats some distance and was the main source of the team's scoring early in the second half as Arizona went up by as many as 21 points.
Belmont countered with a 10-0 run, culminating with a three-pointer from J.J. Mann with 5:30 remaining, to cut its deficit to 11 points, but Solomon Hill responded with a pair of treys down the stretch to seal the victory for the Wildcats.
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