TUCSON — Standing on the sideline, leading his team in action against Arizona on Sunday, NAU coach Mike Adras noticed a major difference between his squad and the Wildcats.

"It just seemed like at the start, they were on their toes and we were on our heels," Adras said. "I don't think it was the crowd or the atmosphere, or anything like that, we were just on our heels and playing a little timid.

"They jumped us a little bit to start the game."

The Wildcats used the fast start to hang 51 points on the Lumberjacks in the first half en route to a 87-70 win at the McKale Center in the first regular season game for new Arizona coach, Sean Miller.

The Jacks, who, by Adras' admission were a step slow in the first half, weren't helped by foul trouble in the first 20 minutes. Junior forward Shane Johannsen picked up two fouls by the 18:22 mark of the opening half and Cameron Jones quickly joined Johannsen with a couple of fouls, picking up two in the first 7:30 of the game.

Johannsen finished the first half with three fouls as did forward Nick Larson and Jones and guard Eric Platt each had two at the break.

"The early foul trouble really set us back," Adras said. "Having to play guys now extended minutes because their partner is in foul trouble really hurt us. I think that attributed to the 51-point half they had.

"If we play a 36-point half both halves, it's a different game. At least we are within grabbing distance instead of way out there and not arm length's distance."

Instead, NAU went into the break trailing by 20.

The Wildcats shot 58.1 percent from the field in the opening half and committed just four turnovers and held statistic advantages in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. There's no question the Wildcats were fired up for Miller's debut and responded in impressive fashion.

"I thought we had a great first half," Miller said. "We had only four turnovers and to have that (few) against a quality opponent like Northern Arizona shows our versatility on offense. We have a lot of different options for our offense but still have a lot to learn on defense."

Miller was as pleased with his team in the first half as Adras was about his squad in the second half.

Finally able to stay out of foul trouble, NAU chipped away at Arizona's lead, which was as big as 24 points early in the second.

The Jacks closed the lead to 13 points when Jones hit a short jumper to make it 77-64. That's as close as NAU would get though as the Wildcats closed out the game strong, getting it back to a 17-point advantage.

The Jacks still managed to outscore Arizona, 39-36 in the game's final 20 minutes, something that didn't mean much to NAU's players after the loss.

"It didn't feel good at all," NAU junior forward DeAngelo Jones said. "We had our bright spots, especially in the second half, but we didn't play very well. Now, we just have to make sure that we build off of this loss and make sure we get better."

Cameron Jones was one of those bright spots, scoring a game-high 29 points in 28 minutes and shooting 12 of 16 from the field. The junior, who was a All-Big Sky second-team pick last year only played 13 minutes in the first half because of the two early fouls.

Redshirt freshman Gabe Rogers added 11 points and three assists and Eric Platt followed up his 26-point debut with nine points and seven rebounds in the loss.

The Wildcats were led by freshman forward Solomon Hill, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in his collegiate debut. Senior point guard Nic Wise added 15 points in the win and junior Jamelle Horne finished with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Jacks will now turn their attention from Arizona to Fresno State and Pacific. NAU will host the Bulldogs on Tuesday and the Tigers on Thursday, capping a four-game in seven-day stretch for NAU.

The hope for Adras is the Arizona loss will give NAU something to improve on.

"We really build off this game," Adras said. "To play in an environment like this against a quality team just helps us gain so much for the rest of the season. It just seems like it helps us build for the rest of the season and I hope that's the case this year."

Daniel Berk can be reached at dberk@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.