TUCSON, Arizona -- Northwestern State basketball fans are accustomed to a run-and-shoot pace of play in the Mike McConathy era, but Sunday's contest at No. 10/12 Arizona strayed heavily to the other side of the spectrum. 
 

The Demons played an extremely slow pace in an attempt to keep close with the more athletic Wildcats as NSU fell 61-42 in front of 14,396 at the McKale Center.
 

McConathy said the Demons (0-4) won't bleed the shot clock on every possession against opponents similar to NSU's talent, but without star point guard Jalan West, a slower pace may be mixed in this season.
 

"Arizona's very talented and very good, and we felt like we needed to make Arizona guard and be there for the entire shot clock," McConathy said. "We felt like we had some OK matchups at the end of the clock, and with the exception of about eight turnovers at the end of the clock, I thought it was pretty effective.
 

"I really don't know where our identity lies right now, but it will be somewhere what you saw here today and our normal pace. The players are frustrated with us (NSU coaches) instead of understanding that we gave ourselves  a chance to be in the game (at a slower pace). They think we should run. We would have gotten beat by 70."
 

The slower pace did prove effective as the Demons cut Arizona's (4-0) lead to 10 points three times in the second half -- the last being 42-32 at the 11:07 mark.
 

Down 38-21, Zeek Woodley scored four of his team-high 14 points as part of a 7-0 run to slice Arizona's lead to 38-28. Reginald Kissoonlal drained a 3-pointer in his first action of the season to help the run.
 

Woodley finished with his first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Devonte Hall and Ishmael Lane each contributed six points with freshman Baily Walker scoring the first points of his career with five in the first half.
 

But Arizona ended the game on a slow yet extended run, leading by as many as 21 down the stretch.

The Wildcats, who entered the game averaging 15 more rebounds than opponents, held just a 39-30 edge on the glass, although 16 of those were offensive.
 

"We played with great effort for about 34 minutes tonight," said McConathy, who highlighted that area for improvement this season. "We had a chance to cut it to eight on a missed layup.
 

"But guys like Ta'Jon Welcome and Matt Killian were aggressive. Bailey Walker had a good first half. Zeek was really aggressive tonight, and (Kissoonlal) and (Lane) gave good effort. If we don't turn the ball over (14-5 edge for Arizona), I wouldn't say this game was winnable but it would have been more competitive."
 

NSU's lowest point total in the McConathy era is 36 against Oklahoma State in 2007.
 

Arizona's Gabe York scored a game-high 18 point with four of his six field goals being from long range.
 

Arizona shot just 37 percent (22-of-60) from the field andf 12-of-24 from the free-throw line to help keep NSU within striking distance. 
 

The Wildcats, who own the nation's longest active home winning streak at 42 games, jumped out to an 8-2 lead that slowly ballooned to 14-4 with points from six different Wildcats. 
 

Arizona struggled to a 34-21 halftime lead under the unexpected tempo from NSU. 
 

"We were expecting Northwestern State to push the ball, and we were looking for that tempo," said Arizona coach Sean Miller. "They are a fast team that likes to shoot 3-pointers, but they played differently tonight.
 

"It made the game feel funny ... but we had open looks that didn't go tonight."
 

The Demons return to the floor when they host Louisiana College on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.