In the leadup to Arizona’s season opener in Las Vegas, Tommy Lloyd dropped some hints about how much importance he was putting on that first game. While he never outright said it didn’t matter, he mentioned how losing wasn’t the end of the world.
And sure enough, the Wildcats suffered their first season-opening loss in 20 years, and that setback to rival UCLA didn’t prevent the sun from rising the next day.
“I feel like this could be a great catalyst for us,” Lloyd said after the 84-75 loss, the UA’s
first to open a season since falling at Virginia in 2006. “I wanted to win, of course, but I’m ready to move forward and just get better.”
The first chance to learn from the mistakes made in that opener comes Thursday night when No. 5 Arizona hosts Cal Poly in ALKEME Arena at McKale Center. It’s one of two buy games at home before the competition ramps up again with games against Auburn, UConn and at the Maui Invitational.
For the record, the UA hasn’t started 0-2 since 1982-83, the ill-fated Ben Lindsey season that led to the school hiring Lute Olson and becoming a national power. The Wildcats are projected to win by 25, according to KenPom.com.
Here’s what to watch for when Arizona and Cal Poly face off:
A lineup change?
If RJ Godfrey were eligible, Bryce James would not have started all three exhibition games and certainly would not have made his first career start on Monday. James’ inclusion in the starting lineup has clearly been by default, but his role as a placeholder could be in jeopardy.
As was the case in the preseason games, after coming out for the first time James didn’t see the court much again. He logged just six minutes total, including the final 32 seconds of the first half and the opening 2:29 after halftime, and overall went scoreless with an assist while missing all three shots.
Lloyd has indicated that starting James helps set up rotations, which is another way of saying he doesn’t have the scoring punch to be a key weapon off the bench. But against UCLA the only reserve to score a basket was JJ Mandaquit, who hit a 3-pointer but was overall just 1 of 6 to go with six assists and two rebounds.
Mandaquit played 32 minutes, much more than Lloyd likely anticipated, but that was partly due to Cameron Holmes having stage fright and not playing the second half. Much more is expected from Holmes, and both are best served as backups, as is the case with center Ugnius Jarusevicius, who played six minutes in relief of Motiejus Krivas.
Unless Lloyd were to insert freshman Maksim Brnovic, Arizona may be sticking with the same starting five for the time being.
Second act for the freshmen
Brnovic had three rebounds and an assist in 11 minutes, missing his only shot, but that may have been the least disappointing performance of any of the first-year players. It was far better than what was seen from Holmes, a 4-star prospect who also played on 11 minutes and didn’t see the court after halftime.
That was no doubt due at least in part to him passing under several open shots on the perimeter, looking almost afraid to shoot even with UCLA sagging so far off him. He finished with one point, missing both his field goal attempts, and his plus/minus of -19 was by far the worst on the team.
Caleb Holt started and played 27 minutes, finishing with seven points and seven rebounds, but it was an inconsistent performance all around. He committed four fouls, almost all on loose balls or far from the basket, his athleticism and breakneck pace of play out of control at times.
“Welcome to college basketball,” Lloyd said. “I told our guys, what happens today is not going to define your season, and it’s not going to define your individual seasons. So you just have to understand that, you got to keep it moving, and you got to get on to the next one, and everyone else can draw strong conclusions. But we’re going to stay committed to each other in our locker room, and understanding that we all made a decision to be on this journey together, and so we’re going to try to make it the best experience we can.”
It’s worth noting that, while Ivan Kharchenkov and Koa Peat had masterful debuts last year against Florida, Brayden Burries fouled out in 17 minutes in that game and was 1 of 6 from the field. He also struggled later in the first month in high-profile games against UCLA and UConn but eventually hit his stride and led the Wildcats in scoring en route to being a NBA Draft lottery pick.
A more balanced scoring attack
Kharchenkov’s 38 points were the most by a Wildcat in a loss since Jerryd Bayless went for 39 against ASU in 2008. That game saw him score 72 percent of the UA’s points, which seemed like what Karchenkov was on pace for until Derek Dixon caught fire with 16 of his 18 points in the second half during the near comeback.
The two players in double figures was the fewest since last season’s win at UConn, which Jaden Bradley had 21 and Peat 16, but five other players had between four and nine points.
The third-leading scorer against UCLA,Krivas, had eight points but only took four shots while drawing nine fouls.
Under Lloyd, Arizona has always been best when having the scoring be spread out. Even during Caleb Love’s two seasons as the primary scorer there were 30 games with at least five Wildcats reaching 10 points or more. And not surprisingly, it lost all eight games during that stretch where only two players scored in double figures.
An opponent that likes to run
Cal Poly, which opened its season with a 16-point win over Division II Cal State-San Marcos, will present Arizona with a very different look than what UCLA did. Instead of a defense- and rebounding-driven approach, the Mustangs like to get up and go. And keep going.
Last season’s team, which went 14-19 but had a win at Utah, had to No. 1 adjusted tempo in the country at 74 possessions per 40 minutes (Arizona was 49th at 70). Cal Poly’s average offensive length of possession was 14.5 seconds, second-shortest in Division I, which translated to 82.1 points per game.
But it wasn’t an efficient offense, shooting only 43.3 percent and turning it over on nearly 20 percent of possessions. And the defense allowed 85 points per game.
The Mustangs’ top scorer is 6-foot-8 Hamad Mousa, who had 18 in the opener and averaged 20.4 points last season.
