Arizona powers past North Dakota

SALT LAKE CITY -- Lauri Markkanen scored 20 points, including several key first-half baskets, to power second seed Arizona to a 100-82 victory over 15 seed North Dakota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Rawle Alkins also had 20 points and Allonzo Trier added 18 for the Wildcats. Arizona (31-4) won its fifth straight game and for the 10th time in its last 11 games. The Wildcats will face seventh seed Saint Mary's in the second round on Saturday.

Quinton Hooker scored 25 points and Drick Bernstine added 20 to lead North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks (22-10) made their NCAA Tournament debut after winning both the Big Sky Tournament and regular season championship.

Click through images from some of the biggest moments of the game:

Arizona used a 13-1 run to open up a 24-13 lead midway through the first half. Parker Jackson-Cartwright drained a go-ahead 3-pointer to ignite the run. He bookended it by feeding Allen for a jumper and then scoring a layup on the ensuing possession.

North Dakota trimmed the deficit to seven points twice before halftime, the second time on a Hooker layup that cut Arizona's lead to 28-21. The Wildcats snuffed out the rally behind a flurry of baskets from Markkanen. He converted a pair of 3-point plays and drained a jumper over three consecutive possessions to put Arizona ahead 36-24.

The Wildcats led by as many as 17 points in the first half, going up 46-29 after Trier dunked the ball and Jackson-Cartwright tacked on another layup on back-to-back possessions.

North Dakota briefly threatened the Wildcats after halftime. The Fighting Hawks cut Arizona's lead to 68-61 on a layup from Drick Bernstine with 12:07 remaining.

The Wildcats used a 12-0 run to quell any remaining comeback hopes. It started with a 3-point play from Allen and ended with a pair of free throws from Trier and an 80-61 Arizona lead with 7:29 left in the game.