No. 5 Arizona will play its first home game in Tucson, Ariz., on Thursday against Cal Poly, looking to rebound from a season-opening loss to rival UCLA at Las Vegas on Monday.
The Wildcats lost 84-75 to No. 22 UCLA despite a career-high 38 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore Ivan Kharchenkov.
Arizona trailed 43-29 at halftime before making a second-half push. The Wildcats eventually pulled within one point at 71-70 but UCLA answered with a 3-pointer and closed out the victory.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said he is not concerned about one early-season setback.
“There’s no panic after one game,” Lloyd said. “These seasons are long, and I know everyone has high hopes and wants everything to go perfect. But when you’ve been doing this for enough years, you know you’re in a very imperfect business, so just get comfortable being challenged.
“I’m honestly really looking forward to seeing how we respond.”
Cal Poly is an experienced team that enters the game after opening its season with a 78-62 victory over Cal State San Marcos on Monday.
The Mustangs had five players reach double figures, led by Hamad Mousa’s game-high 18 points.
Cayden Ward recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Guzman Vasilic contributed 13 points.
Cal Poly outrebounded Cal State San Marcos 59-36.
Mousa, a junior, averaged 20.4 points per game last season to lead the Big West in scoring. Ward returns after averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Cal Poly returns four starters and 13 players from its 2025-26 roster. The Mustangs also bring back 83.2% of their scoring production, giving third-year head coach Mike DeGeorge one of the more experienced teams in the country.
The perimeter-oriented Mustangs averaged 10.8 made three-pointers per game last season, ranking 10th nationally.
“We’re never going to be a dominant offensive or defensive rebounding team,” DeGeorge said. “We’ve made a choice. We’re going to play these multipositional guys. We’re giving something up to gain something. So we just have to have what we gain be more valuable.”
The Wildcats will need more consistent production from Kharchenkov’s supporting cast.
Even with his 12-for-20 shooting performance, Arizona shot 36.7% from the field and 23.3% from 3-point range against UCLA.
North Carolina transfer Derek Dixon provided a spark in the second half with 16 of his 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year selection Motiejus Krivas did not attempt a shot in the first half and finished with eight points while shooting 2 of 4 from the field. The post player had nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
UCLA finished with a 19-9 advantage in second-chance points.
“A couple people started hanging their heads, and I’m like, ‘It’s not about how we start the season, it’s about how we end the season,'” Kharchenkov said about Arizona’s postgame locker room. “Obviously, it hurts when we’re losing, just remember that feeling. We’ll have a tough stretch in another game, and we’ll need to dig deeper.
“The other team was cheering in the locker room. We could hear it through the walls. Just remember that, and then you will give an extra 10, 15% because we’ll need it.”
