TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Without a big name or a top-25 national ranking for the moment, the Arizona Wildcats are searching for an identity.
They've got a couple of upperclassmen who transferred from elsewhere that could help.
Ryan Luther scored 17 points and Chase Jeter added 16, helping the Wildcats to an 82-61 win over Cal Poly on Sunday.
''Ryan Luther's one of our team's best shooters,'' Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. ''Sometimes he's almost unselfish to a fault.''
Junior guard Dylan Smith, a returnee from last season's team, came off the bench for 12 points - making 4 of 7 3s - and Arizona scored 21 points off 17 Mustang turnovers. The Wildcats (2-0) got hot in the second half after holding only a seven-point lead at halftime.
Guard Marcellus Garrick led Cal Poly (1-1) with 16 points.
''With this year's team, we don't have as much of a guy who's going to fill up the scoreboard,'' said Jeter, who sat out last season after transferring from Duke. ''Any night, any guy can kind of have their go. It's not about taking turns but just the effort level needs to be there every night, and different guys are going to have their time.''
The Wildcats went on a 20-0 run early in the second half to put the game away. Smith sank a pair of 3s in that stretch as Cal Poly went more than seven minutes without a point.
A short jumper from Donovan Fields ended the scoreless spell for the Mustangs with 11:02 left, but they trailed 63-41.
Luther's layup gave Arizona its first double-digit lead of the game, 49-39, with 16:55 to play. Arizona went up by as many as 32 points before the game ended.
''I think we were really fatigued. You could see the shortness we had on shots,'' Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero said of the second half. ''It didn't look like we were really in big-game game shape.''
Arizona led only 41-34 at halftime and never led by more than eight points in the first half, the Wildcats trying to counter the Mustangs' zone defense. Luther, a graduate transfer from Pitt, had 10 points to lead Arizona, with Garrick making 3 of 5 3s in the half to lead the Mustangs with 11.
''We just tried to get the ball in the high post and not be stationary,'' Luther said.
Smith just missed a 3-point attempt that rattled out at the halftime buzzer, but he and Luther hit two 3's each in the half.
NOTES:
- Redshirt junior center Chase Jeter scored a career high 16 points in Sunday's win. His previous high was 11, set twice, with the most recent time being Wednesday's season opener versus Houston Baptist. Jeter's six field goals and 10 field goals attempted also are new career highs.
- Freshman guard Brandon Williams had eight assists Sunday, and no turnovers. He has 13 assists in two games this season, and has yet to commit a turnover. Williams played a team-high 31 minutes Sunday.
- Williams is the first Arizona freshman since Aaron Gordon (March 5, 2014 versus UCLA) to have eight assists in a game. He's the first Arizona freshman in at least 20 seasons to have eight assists with no turnovers.
- Senior forward Ryan Luther finished with 17 points Sunday and was 3 for 5 from 3-point range. The three 3-pointers tie his career high, which was set while he was at Pittsburgh in 2014 versus Kansas State. He also had three steals, which also ties his career high set at Pitt.
- Sophomore forward Ira Lee collected a career-high eight rebounds Sunday. His previous high was seven, set last season versus CSU Bakersfield.
QUOTES:
"It was good for a lot of reasons, one of which is it's been the first time we've had our entire cast be able to play 100 percent. We missed Chase and Ira for a game, played Chase 50 percent for the game. Going inside is what we are looking to develop, but I think the biggest players on the team Ryan Luther, Ira, and Chase moved there and all those guys playing well and healthy, it gives us a better opportunity to rebound and do some things that we'll need to do." – Sean Miller on Ira Lee's outing.
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"As a team, we're obviously like every team in the country. We're still figuring some things out. I think the main thing going into today was Coach Miller and the whole staff emphasizing to rebound and play harder. We thought in the first game [against Houston Baptist] we gave up too many offensive rebounds and we didn't play physical or aggressive enough, so today we really just focused on rebounding and playing together as a team." – Ryan Luther on the team's performance.
