After long night in Las Vegas, Kharchenkov hoping memory will motivate teammates

Arizona’s sophomore forward, whose 38 points couldn’t help the No. 5 Wildcats enough in No. 22 UCLA’s 84-75 win over UA on Monday at T-Mobile Arena, can only hope his teammates felt the same pain.

The sort of pain he hopes can carry them through the rough games ahead, the marquee nonconference games, maybe in some moments on Maui, and certainly in Big 12 play.

“It really was not a nice feeling when we lost and the other team was cheering in the locker room and we heard them through the walls,” Kharchenkov said. “You know, it’s ‘just remember that, and then you will go the extra 10, 15%.’ ”

Throughout his tireless 38-minute performance Monday, Kharchenkov played like he had already remembered that feeling once or twice, maybe many times, before.

Becoming the Wildcats’ first player to collect as many as 38 points and 10 rebounds since Al Fleming had 41 and 11 against Detroit nearly 51 years ago, the German sophomore of Russian descent made 12 of 20 field goals and bulldozed his way inside for buckets and/or free throws often.

He made 16 trips to the line, hitting 12 of 16 free-throw attempts.

He's “elite,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “He's as good at as getting to the lane as you'll see. As he develops his 3-point shot, the guy's got a long, long pro career. Just a really tough kid, a great player.”

Kharchenkov was not only compensating for his teammates’ struggles and the double-teaming inside that kept preseason All-American center Motiejus Krivas to just eight points, but he was also playing somewhat out of position again at power forward while RJ Godfrey remained ineligible.

Godfrey’s move from a Georgia to a Texas five-for-five case proved unsuccessful leading up to Monday's game when a district judge in Waco did not include him and other transplanted plaintiffs in his ruling for a temporary restraining order.

All of which, again, left UA coach Tommy Lloyd at a loss for words.

“I got no time to be frustrated,” Lloyd said of Godfrey's status. “Obviously, I think we're going to be a better team with him, but we knew he wasn't going to play tonight, and we had enough in the locker room even without RJ to play better than we did.”

Considering Kharchenkov’s efforts to overcome all that, Lloyd called him a “warrior,” noting how he gave the Wildcats a shot in the arm when they needed it most.

It’s just that they almost always needed some sort of support, until they finally went on a 10-0 run that pulled them within 71-70 with 3:11 left. 

Even then, the Wildcats never tied or took a lead from there, and their three-year series with their former Pac-12 rival ended at 1-2. UA beat the Bruins last November in Los Angeles, but lost to UCLA at Phoenix in December 2024 and on Monday at the former Pac-12 Tournament site.

“He kept us in the game, close enough to make a run, and then he hits a couple big 3s,” Lloyd said of Kharchenkov. “Unfortunately, when you play that poorly for long stretches of the game, you really give yourself no margin for error, and that's kind of what it came down to. I mean, obviously we had a chance, but I don't think we were the deserving team tonight.

“So even if we would have won, I probably wouldn't sit here and be feeling great. UCLA was the deserving team tonight.”

The Bruins, ranked 17 spots below UA, started taking double-digit leads midway through the first half. They led 43-29 at halftime and by up to 16 early in the second half, and the Wildcats didn’t really make it interesting until their 10-0 run.

After that point, Arizona had a brief chance to go ahead when UCLA was called for a 10-second backcourt violation, but gave the ball back on its ensuing possession when Krivas passed out of a jam inside to … nobody on the perimeter.

“He obviously thought he had a teammate open in that deep corner and kind of blindly threw the ball there,” Lloyd said. “Unfortunately, the only guys in white jerseys were on the bench. But it doesn't come down to that play.”

Already hamstrung by UCLA’s solid double-team efforts, Krivas took just four field goals the entire game and finished with eight points, while committing four turnovers, including the late pass that went out of bounds.

“We haven't seen that steady double team like that and they just did a good job of making Mo maybe a little bit indecisive,” Lloyd said. “But I mean, again, Mo did draw 10 or nine fouls. He's just got to be a little bit better, and we've just got to keep getting a little bit more comfortable with it.”

Krivas’ final turnover left UCLA with the 3-point lead and 42.5 seconds left. UCLA's Eric Dailey broke away for a dunk, and UA's JJ Mandaquit was blocked on a layup attempt.

Two free throws from Nikola Kusturica gave UCLA an 82-75 lead with 32 seconds left, and the Bruins hung on from there.

UA wound up shooting just 36.7% and was outrebounded 46-45.

“UCLA is a great defensive team,” Lloyd said. “They came in with a game plan, and it obviously kind of took us out of our rhythm, and we just couldn't find it for a while.

“That happens to teams, especially early in the season. You got a lot of new guys playing new roles, you get punched in the face a little bit, and maybe you kind of lose your way. But I'm proud of the way our guys fought back.”

Afterward, saying he saw some teammates hang their heads, Kharchenkov said he told them that it wasn’t about the start of the season, but about the end of the season.

But the fact is that the start of the season for Arizona last year actually did foreshadow the end: The Wildcats, getting breakout performances from both then-freshmen Kharchenkov (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Koa Peat (30 points), beat then-defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Florida 93-87 at T-Mobile Arena.

Then the Wildcats beat UCLA and UConn later in November 2025 to establish themselves as a national contender ... and went on to win the Big 12 and reach the Final Four.

Does the pattern work in reverse now?

Not the way Lloyd described it.

“The incredible thing for me is — I wanted to win, of course — but I'm ready to move forward and just get better,” Lloyd said. “I feel like this can be a great catalyst for us. We’ve got to take advantage of that.”