It was raining threes in the first half for Arizona, as they head into the intermission holding a 35-22 lead over UTEP at McKale Center.

The Wildcats hit 8-of-13 threes, including three within the first five minutes.

After freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski opened the game with a put back on a Solomon Hill miss, forward Grant Jerrett nailed two straight three pointers to give the Wildcats an early 8-3 lead.

After a steal and layup from Mark Lyons, UA’s point guard nailed a jumper from beyond the arc and Arizona had a 13-6 lead with 16:12 left in the half.

Lyons would add three more 3-point range, along with one apiece from Kevin Parrom, Solomon Hill and Nick Johnson. The Miners hit three 3-pointers of their own, going 3-of-8 from beyond the arc, led by sophomore Julian Washburn. The guard/forward scored a team-high seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, including 1-of-3 from 3-point range.

An 9-0 run toward the end of the half gave Arizona a 31-16 lead, its largest of the game, but UTEP cut back into it with a 6-0 run of its own before Lyons hit a 3-pointer just before the end of the half, giving the UA its 13-point lead.

Lyons led the way with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and Tarczewski had a game-high five rebounds.

The Wildcats outrebounded the Miners 23-8, but turned the ball over 11 times to eight assists.