Arizona-Cal Poly scouting report: On Godfrey's latest possibilities and Mustang retention

No. 5 Arizona (0-1) vs. Cal Poly (1-0)

McKale Center at Alkeme Arena | Thursday, 8:30 p.m. | TruTV | 1290-AM

Probable starters

ARIZONA

7 G Derek Dixon (6-5 sophomore)

6 G Bryce James (6-5 sophomore)

3 G Caleb Holt (6-5 freshman)

8 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 sophomore)

13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 senior)

Key reserves

2 G Cameron Holmes (6-6 freshman)

23 G JJ Mandaquit (6-1 sophomore)

35 F Maksim Brnovic (6-10 freshman)

12 F Ugnius Jarusevicius (6-11 senior)

CAL POLY

10 G/F Hamad Mousa (6-8 junior)

14 G Cayden Ward (6-6 junior)

5 G Guzman Vasilic (6-4 junior)

11 F Austin Goode (6-6 junior)

1 G Jess Esso Essis (6-10 sophomore)

Key reserves

7 F Ali Assran (6-9 sophomore)

8 PG Jackson Mosley (5-10 senior)

13 F Troy Plumtree (6-6 sophomore)

How they match up

The series: Arizona leads the series 4-0 in games that have all been played in Tucson, the last during the 2018-19 season.

Game agreement: UA will pay Cal Poly $95,000 for making a one-time appearance at McKale Center.

Cal Poly overview: The Mustangs ran with the fastest Kenpom-adjusted tempo in Division I last season and are expected to do much of the same this season with an astounding 12 returning players, including four starters.

The downside is that the Mustangs haven't taken great care of the ball with that sort of pace, posting the 20th-worst turnover percentage (19.9) in Division I last season. They also allowed their opponents to shoot 55.0% from the two-point range, ranking just 310th nationally in that category.

The Mustangs love to shoot 3s, taking more than half of their field goals from beyond the arc last season, though they shot 3s at only a 33.0% rate. That tendency surfaced in their season opener Monday, when Cal Poly took 35 of its 61 field goals from the 3-point range, but they made 12 of them.

The Mustangs have an unusual look in their starting lineup, with several ballhandlers that include 6-10 France native Jess Esso Essis while 6-7, 200-pound Austin Goode is a small-ball big man. Although they go without a traditional center, the Mustangs have good size on the perimeter. Hamad Mousa, a 6-8 wing, averaged 20.4 points last season and scored 18 in his 24 minutes against San Marcos on Monday.

Key players

CAL POLY

Hamad Mousa

Because the Mustangs can be a blur offensively, it’s no surprise that Mousa was able to get off an average of 13.7 shots per game last season. But he also made a lot of them, shooting 51.2% from the two-point range and 36.4% from 3. That combination made him the Big West’s leading scorer last season and put him on its all-conference team.

ARIZONA

Bryce James

Among the more frequently asked questions about the Wildcats’ lineup so far is why LeBron’s son is starting each half of exhibition games and their season opener but often playing little afterward. UA coach Tommy Lloyd has said it keeps good players coming off the bench and credited James’ improvement. Home games against Cal Poly and NAU might offer James more playing time.

Sidelines

Godfrey presses on

After failing to gain eligibility in time for Arizona's season opener via five-for-five cases in Georgia and Texas, UA forward RJ Godfrey and his team of attorneys have not given up.

Godfrey's lead counsel, Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group, has been joined by a Tucson attorney in considering other options that include legal action in Pima County or another jurisdiction.

On Tuesday, Texas District Court Judge Ryan Luna formally denied a temporary restraining order to Godfrey and others who had jumped into the Texas case from other jurisdictions, according to a filing obtained by the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Luna had excluded the new plaintiffs from his ruling Friday to give a TRO to the case's initial plaintiffs, then wrote Tuesday that the claims of Godfrey and the other plaintiffs who joined the case from other locations were “dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.”

Attorneys for Godfrey have been closely following the Pima County Superior Court case of UA football players Ismail Mahdi and Max Harris, who received a temporary restraining order to gain fifth-year eligibility, though their long-term eligibility has remained in question.

If that case continues to trend against the UA football players, Godfrey is more likely to file in another jurisdiction.

UCLA-UA future uncertain

While finishing up the final game of their three-year series Monday, neither UCLA coach Mick Cronin nor UA coach Tommy Lloyd offered much detail on whether a new series would be contracted anytime soon.

But they both said they like the tests each team can give each other, while geography is an obvious bonus for teams that now play the majority of their conference games in other regions.

“Playing them is always a great thing,” Cronin said. “We don't have to leave the West Coast, and they're a great program.”

But when it comes to their former Pac-12 rivalry, Cronin basically said that was no factor.

“I just worry about UCLA, man,” Cronin said. “Like, that doesn't even cross my mind. … You know why it's good to play them? They're really good, and it makes you better. And if you can win, you get a great win. That's why.”

Mustangs buck trend 

At Cal Poly, cash does not appear to be king.

The San Luis Obispo-based school isn't known for dishing out six- or seven-figure NIL and revenue share sums to its players, but it does happen to be one of the nation's highest-rated public universities, while also featuring mild Central California weather and a short ride to the beach.

That'll work for most of their players this season. The Mustangs lost their point guard to Nevada, but nobody else transferred from last season, allowing them the luxury of 12 returners.

“We had young guys who had a good experience here and who believe in what we’re doing,” Mustangs coach Mike DeGeorge told Blue Ribbon Yearbook before the season. “They enjoyed it and are trying to be strategic about their college experience.”

For now, at least. DeGeorge, who has had player agents tell him of better offers elsewhere, also said: “it may be completely different next year.”

Numbers game

3: Arizona games in which center Motiejus Krivas has had a career-high six blocks, including the Wildcats’ game against UCLA on Monday.

19: Years since Arizona had lost a season opener until Monday (a 93-90 loss at Virginia in 2006-07, the last season Lute Olson coached the Wildcats in games).

23: Games Arizona won last season before losing its first.

— Bruce Pascoe