PHOTO GALLERY BY GILBERT ALCARAZ
Arizona men’s basketball returned to form in their home opener, comfortably beating Cal Poly on Thursday night.
The No. 5 Wildcats (1-1) bested Cal Poly (1-1) by a score of 104-84, scoring 59 points in the first half and cruising to victory.
UA head coach Tommy Lloyd said it was an up-and-down game.
“Obviously, we’re happy to get the win and we don’t make light of any win and I thought Cal Poly presented a lot of challenges just with the relentlessness they play with and when you’re willing to shoot that many threes from that many positions, they can stack up on you and obviously number 10 had a heck of a game, so I was impressed with how they played,” Lloyd said.
“For our guys, we’re still a team trying to figure it out a little bit. I mean, obviously there’s hopefully some growth (Thursday), but I think all these experiences are kind of stacking and hopefully just provide a great foundation of learning.”
UA senior center Motiejus Krivas scored a career-high 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting, going 10-for-12 at the free throw line, had two blocks and grabbed eight rebounds.
Krivas was not available for the postgame press conference because he had an assignment due at midnight.
Freshman guard Cameron Holmes said it’s amazing playing with Krivas.
“Mo is an amazing individual on and off the court, but like just the way he carries himself off the court just as a testimony to the work that he puts in,” Holmes said. “I feel like in high school I didn’t really have a big man to play with, so like now fast forward to college playing with the big man that is as skilled as him and seeing the work that he puts in is amazing.
“It’s like a fresh threat of air, just going out there, being able to play with a skilled big guy and that can protect the rim and just wants to win it all costs.”
UA jumped out to a 11-3 lead but Cal Poly got to within a couple points when the Wildcats went on a field goal drought of about 3:15.
Arizona then went ahead 25-15 with a 9-0 run.
Four UA players scored in double figures and 10 of the 11 Wildcats who played scored. Sophomore forward Ivan Kharchenkov followed up his career night against UCLA in Las Vegas with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds plus seven assists and four steals.
UA shot 54.5% and Cal Poly was 43.9% from the field.
The Wildcats went ahead 35-20 with about eight minutes left in the first half when Kharchenkov grabbed a rebound and got an assist with a Noah Fifita-caliber pass across the court to Holmes.
Then a couple plays later after Kharchenkov made a couple free throws, Holmes stole the inbound pass and dunked it.
Holmes had 13 points.
“Obviously I was happy to see Cam have some success, he’s an awesome kid and he’s a good basketball player,” Lloyd said. “There’s a lot of things we can build on, I hope defensively he kind of settles in and kind of quits making up his own rules, he’s making up his own rules out there, kind of hustling around, it’s not from a lack of effort, it’s just we gotta understand we have a plan for a reason and at this level of basketball if you make a mistake, two passes later a guy might get wide open three and that’s kind of what happened on some of those situations.
“So it’s just getting that experience and learning from it but it is also it’s really important to build confidence while you’re doing that,” he added. “So hopefully his confidence takes a little bit of a jump (Thursday) because he’s going to be a really important player for us this season.”
UA led by as many as 21 in the first half, 48-27. The Mustangs cut the lead to 59-41 at halftime by making their last six field goals to end the period.
In the second half UA built their lead up to 29 with just over seven minutes left.
The Wildcats had 14 steals, 25 points off turnovers and 17 fast break points.
“We are a very aggressive team and we want to go for a lot of steals, I made a few mistakes on taking a big risk,” said Holt, who had two steals. “He wants us to be smart while as aggressive.”
Holt had 21 points without attempting any three pointers.
“That’s just me going out there and hooping, without even thinking,” Holt said. “So that just shows I feel like I can do a lot more than, showing right now. But just however the game was flowing, I wanted to shoot a three, I pump faked, dude flew right past me and the goal was right there so I didn’t settle for a three just because I haven’t got one up, I’m gonna take good shots and when those threes come, I’m gonna knock them down.”
Arizona got to 100 points with 3:09 left in the game.
Cal Poly cut the lead down a bit with a 8-0 in the last couple minutes.
For Cal Poly, junior guard/forward Hamad Mousa (number 10) scored 30 points and sophomore guard Jason Scott had 17 points, going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Up next for the Wildcats is Northern Arizona at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Lumberjacks opened the season at UNLV with a 89-77 loss.
UA alum Josh Pastner is in his second year as UNLV’s head coach.
SHORT READS
— On Thursday forward RJ Godfrey took his quest to gain a fifth year of eligibility to a new venue: Pima County Superior Court.
Godfrey’s attorneys are now suing the Arizona Board of Regents, alleging that the UA failed to certify him according to how the NCAA rules are written. Prominent local attorney and sports figure Ali Farhang also joined Godfrey’s legal team.
Lloyd said he didn’t hear about the new Godfrey developments until after the game so was not able to comment on it.
“I’m not pushing any buttons” he said. “So I guess we’ll learn more and I’ll learn more tonight and then tomorrow, but like, I don’t even know like the specifics or ins and outs of anything, I’m being honest.”
Holt said the transfer from Clemson will fit right in if he gets eligible.
“I feel like he’s on the floor, even though even though he’s not, he’s practicing like he’s gonna play,” Holt said. “I feel like when RJ does get on the floor, it won’t be like he missed a beat.”
— Kharchenkov scored 38 points in the loss to UCLA to open the season. It’s the first time since Deandre Ayton at the Pac-12 Tournament in 2018 that a Wildcat scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games. The 1993-94 season was the last two different UA players scored 30 or more in consecutive games when Khalid Reeves had 40 points against Michigan and Damon Stoudamire scored 30 against ASU.
— UA leads the all-time series against Cal Poly 5-0. They last met on Nov. 11 2018, a 82-61 win.
— Arizona has won their last 19 home openers, last losing one on Nov. 17 2007, 75-72 to Virginia.
— Attendance was 13,989.
“Man, it was it was lit, for a town to come out at 8:30 at night, probably got work tomorrow, leaving the arena at 11, it was like none other,” Holt said. “There’s some dedicated fans, we love them and I’m going to do everything I can to get them on their feet every time they come out here.”
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