Power conference teams, take note: tread lightly when considering scheduling a home-and-home with Arizona.
For the second year in a row the Wildcats ended a lengthy home win streak against non-league foes, beating Auburn 80-69 on Friday night. The Tigers had won 71 consecutive nonconference game at Neville Arena, a streak that went back to 2016.
Caleb Holt, back in his home state, had a breakout performance with 24 points, nine rebounds and five steals while Ivan Kharchenkov went for 19 points and 8
rebounds and Motiejus Krivas had 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Holt was 4 of 6 from 3-point range after missing 10 of 11 triples in Arizona’s first three games.
The Wildcats (3-1) turned it over 12 times, twice as many as in Tuesday’s win over an NAU team that almost upset Kentucky on the road Friday night, and had 12 shots blocked (six by Auburn center Narcisse Ngoy) but still shot 44.4 percent overall including 50 percent in the second half.
Auburn (2-1) shot 34.8 percent, and while it made 11 3s it took 31 and was just 12 of 35 from inside the arc. Junior guard Tahad Pettiford, who came in averaging 22.5 points per game, had nine on 4-of-14 shooting.
Arizona outrebounded the Tigers by 12 and finished up 16 in points in the paint despite all the blocked shots.
Coach Tommy Lloyd made a lineup change, with JJ Mandaquit replacing Bryce James. The Washington transfer had six points (all on free throws) in 31 minutes while James did not play, nor did backup center Ugnius Jarusevicius. The UA bench logged only 27 minutes with four points, two each from Maksim Brnovic and Evan Otten.
Arizona led 36-32 at halftime despite having nine shots blocked and turning it over eight times. The first shot of the 2nd half was swatted as well but the Wildcats still opened on 10-0 run to lead by 14 less than three minutes in.
But like in the 1st half when the UA would get a little separation, Auburn quickly scored on consecutive possessions to get back in it. A 10-2 run got the Tigers within 48-42.
The Wildcats were up 51-44 when Krivas picked up his third foul with 13:02 left, and in his absence Auburn went on a 9-2 run to tie it on an Owen Freeman hook shot. Krivas came back in with 9:38 remaining and immediately drew Ngoy’s fourth foul, but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
Auburn then took its first lead since 18-16 on a Freeman free throw and a 54-53 advantage before Holt got a steal and dunk to put the Wildcats back in front.
There were four lead changes and two ties over the next two minutes before the UA scored nine straight, with a 3 by Kharchenkov making it 68-61 with 5:20 left.
Four consecutive free throws by Mandaquit put the Wildcats up 74-65 with 2:05 to go, then Kharchenkov hit a dagger jumper late in the shot clock with 1:32 left.
The game’s first 15 possessions featured only two made baskets compared to four turnovers, with Arizona giving it away three times in the first 3-plus minutes. A combined 2 of 15 start was followed by both teams starting to find their stroke, with 3s by Holt and Derek Dixon giving the UA a 14-9 lead.
But then Auburn scored eight in a row, all coming from Troy transfer Thomas Dowd.
The Tigers kept the lead until Arizona scored six straight, with a Holt jumper putting it up 22-20 with 7:26 left in the 1st half.
Arizona built a 33-24 lead with 1:42 left before halftime before Auburn hit triples on consecutive possessions, forcingLloyd to call timeout. Whatever he drew up worked, as Holt hit his third 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to ensure the UA would lead at the break.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Wildcats, who host No. 4 UConn on Wednesday before heading to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The UA ended UConn’s 36-game nonconference home win streak last November.
