TUCSON, Arizona — Motiejus Krivas scored 30 points, freshman Caleb Holt added 21 and No. 5 Arizona bounced back from a season-opening loss to blow out Cal Poly 104-84 on Thursday night.
The Wildcats (1-1) struggled offensively Monday night in an 84-75 loss to UCLA in Las Vegas, shooting 7 of 30 from 3-point range as the Bruins collapsed in on Krivas.
Arizona bounced back with a dominating performance in their home opener, scoring 59 points by halftime and finished with a 56-26 advantage in the paint while shooting 55% from the floor.
Krivas made 10 of 13 shots and grabbed eight rebounds after being limited to eight points against UCLA. Ivan Kharchenkov had 16 points after scoring 38 in the opener, adding 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Bryce James, son of NBA star LeBron James, scored his first college basket with a 3-pointer a 3 1/2 minutes into the game. He finished with five points on 2-of-5 shooting.
The Mustangs (1-1) have one of the nation’s most experienced teams with 13 returning players, but were no match for the bigger, stronger Wildcats. Hamad Mousa led Cal Poly with 30 points and made 8 of 10 from 3-point range.
Pushed around by UCLA in the opener, the Wildcats did the same to the smaller Mustangs.
Arizona pounded the ball inside, scoring 30 first-half points in the paint. The Wildcats made 20 of 32 shots and scored 19 points off Cal Poly’s 14 turnovers to lead 59-41 at halftime.
