GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Junior Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) and freshman Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) each scored 18 points as the Fighting Sioux men's basketball team opened their season with a 77-46 triumph over Waldorf College on Friday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The Sioux opened the contest on a 14-0 run before Waldorf broke its scoreless drought with a field goal by Damien Riley nearly six minutes into the contest. UND's lead would swell to 25-3 before Riley hit a 3-pointer to stop another big spurt by the home team.

"I thought we prepared well for tonight's game and that was the big difference in the first half," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "At times last year, we lacked focus when we played at home, but our upperclassmen took charge in practice yesterday and made sure our guys were prepared to win a game.

"That is big when you are dealing with a team that has 10 freshmen and sophomores playing big minutes."

Huff and classmate Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) helped the Sioux bench outscore the Waldorf's reserves, 40-16. Anderson had 10 points and dished out a game-high four assists along with UND's other true freshman Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.).

"I thought we were unselfish tonight and really got a lot guys involved in the offense," Jones added. "Our young guys on the bench gave us a nice spark and that will be nice to have this season if guys are struggling."

Mitchell helped the Sioux build their 37-14 advantage at the break by connecting on all three of his long-range attempts in the opening 20 minutes. He had 11 points at the half, while Huff added nine thanks to a 5-for-6 effort from the foul line.

The Sioux made 16 trips to the charity stripe in the first half, converting on 14 of those attempts.

A stingy defense also helped UND build its big lead lead, holding the Warriors to 19.2 shooting from the floor as the visitors struggled to find a rhythm against the Sioux man-to-man defense.

Rendon Dominguez came out and hit a trio of 3-pointers right out of the gate in the second half, but the visitors could not get any closer than 18 as the Sioux kept their composer to win by 31 points.

Webb and Huff led the effort on the glass for the Sioux with six rebounds each. Huff went 6-for-13 from the field, while Mitchell buried all four of his treys and finished 7-for-8 from the floor.

The Sioux will make their first road trip of the season next week when they travel to Wisconsin to take on the 24th-ranked Badgers at 7 p.m in a game to be shown on ESPN3.com.