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Too much and too big, that sums up what North Dakota faced in Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona.

In the end, Arizona had too much size and too many scoring options. North Dakota pulled within seven points in the second half after trailing by 16 at halftime, but the second-seeded Wildcats held off the scrappy club out of the Big Sky Conference for a 100-82 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of an announced 16,341 at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Thursday night.

The 100 points mark the third-most the Wildcats have scored in an NCAA Tournament game.

Freshmen Lauri Markkanen, a 7-footer from Finland, and guard Rawle Alkins led the Wildcats (31-4) with 20 points apiece, while Allonzo Trier (16 points) and Dusan Ristic (12 points) led a high-powered offensive attack for the Wildcats. Ristic, a 7-footer from Serbia, scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

"First round of the NCAA Tournament, you'd expect freshman to have some struggles," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Lauri and Rawle were our best players tonight."

Quinton Hooker scored a game-high 25 points for North Dakota in a loss, while his teammate Drick Bernstine added 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting to go along with 15 rebounds. North Dakota went 10 for 22 from behind the 3-point line.

The Wildcats advance to play Saint Mary's, which defeated VCU earlier in the evening, in Saturday's second-round game.

"This is our first feeling in the NCAA Tournament for me Lauri and Kobi," Alkins said. "We just wanted to play hard and show that we belonged here."

Whether they gained confidence as the game went on or they didn't know any better because of this being their first time on this stage, the North Dakota players showed no fear even when trailing by double digits against one of the top teams in the nation.

North Dakota, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program, chipped away at a 16-point halftime deficit. Drick Bernstine's layup with 12:07 left pulled North Dakota within 68-61, and the Wildcats seemed to be on their heels. While it's not unprecedented for a second seed to lose in the first round — especially here in Salt Lake City — the Wildcats never got into a real danger zone.

The Wildcats scored 10 straight points — Kadeem Allen scored seven — to rebuild a comfortable cushion with 8:45 remaining and coasted to the finish.

The Wildcats led as many as 17 points in the first half on an Allonzo Trier dunk with 4:42 remaining. Markkanen scored 16 first-half points in 14 minutes, and they shot 61 percent from the field as a team.

lworthy@sltrib.com

Twitter: @LWorthySports