Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas have each reached career-high totals of at least 30 points in No. 12 Arizona’s first two games ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Northern Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.
Kharchenkov scored 38 points and also had a career-best 10 rebounds in the Wildcats’ season-opening 84-75 loss to UCLA in Las Vegas. Krivas totaled 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field in a 104-84 victory over Cal Poly in Tucson last week.
Krivas, a 7-foot-2 Lithuanian, also made 10 of 12 free throws and collected eight rebounds. His performance was particularly important after he was limited to eight points while attempting only four shots against UCLA.
“UCLA is well-coached and they defended me well,” Krivas said. “I was determined to come out stronger (against Cal Poly), work for position, and my teammates found me.”
True freshman guard Caleb Holt, who had 21 points and eight rebounds against Cal Poly, said that Arizona feeds off Krivas’ intensity.
“Just going out there, being able to play with a skilled big guy, and (one) that can protect the rim, and just wants to win at all costs, it’s amazing,” Holt said.
Kharchenkov, a 6-foot-7 German, followed his impressive performance against UCLA with another productive outing against Cal Poly: 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Arizona (1-1) also received 13 points from freshman forward Cameron Holmes and nine points and five assists from North Carolina transfer Derek Dixon against Cal Poly.
The Wildcats overpowered Cal Poly inside, outscoring the Mustangs 56-26 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle 44-30. Arizona also collected 14 steals and scored 25 points off turnovers.
Turnovers have plagued Northern Arizona (0-2) in season-opening losses at UNLV (89-77) and at New Mexico (94-65).
The Lumberjacks led by 12 points in the first half against UNLV, but turnovers turned the tide against them.
They committed 18 turnovers against UNLV, which resulted in 20 points for the Rebels. They had 16 turnovers against New Mexico, which the Lobos converted into 23 points.
“We got sped up and didn’t run our sets,” Northern Arizona coach Shane Burcar said of the turnovers.
He added that the miscues are “factors hard to overcome to win a basketball game.”
Sophomore guard Chris Komin led the Lumberjacks with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers, in the loss to UNLV. He had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists against New Mexico.
While taking care of the ball is an issue with Northern Arizona, Arizona’s main struggle so far has been its perimeter shooting.
The Wildcats made just four of 14 shots from 3-point range against Cal Poly after going 7 of 30 against UCLA.
“We’re trying to fight for our identity right now, so I feel like we gotta like keep at it, keep at it, keep at it, and then that feeling’s gonna come,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said of his team’s perimeter scoring.
Arizona leads the all-time series 103-27. The Wildcats have won the last 37 meetings dating to the 1968-69 season.