Krivas, Kharchenkov lead Arizona Wildcats to 82-67 exhibition win over San Diego State

Which changed, basically, nothing.

En route to their 82-67 win over the Aztecs, the Wildcats had to put up with a variety of defenses, full-court pressure and physicality by the same defensive-minded team that caused them fits throughout the Sean Miller era and held them far under their usual tempo during a 68-45 UA win last season in Phoenix.

But this time, the Wildcats committed only seven turnovers and punished the Aztecs on the glass, making up for their 34.7% shooting. UA outrebounded SDSU 49-38 and scored 19 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds.

Returnees Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov both had double-doubles to help lead the way, with Krivas collecting 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Kharchenkov totaling 13 points and 12 rebounds against a defense that UA coach Tommy Lloyd said clearly tried to pack the paint and go under ball screens.

"They played a pretty compact defense, and it was great for us to go against," Lloyd said. "We had some really successful possessions, and we had some that probably weren't so good. To go against a defense of that caliber and score 82 points, I feel OK about it.

"Of course, I would like to make a few more shots, and you guys know I don't love shooting 34.7 percent, but we took care of the ball, we offensively rebounded, and we got to the free throw line, and that's how you can still be efficient offensively."

Krivas was a case in point. He shot just 3 of 10 from the field but collected six offenses rebounds, and made his way to the free-throw line 14 times, hitting 11 free throws. 

Somewhat similarly, Kharchenkov made up for his 1-for-6 3-point shooting by driving to the basket forcefully and hitting 5 of 11 two-pointers, while grabbing 10 defensive rebounds, dishing four assists and collecting two steals.

Along the way, he even nearly took out a cameraman along the baseline, appearing to suffer most from the blow himself after he hit the floor.

"At first I thought it was a chair, but then my own camera guy told me, "Yo, Ivan, I'm sorry,' " Kharchenkov said. "I'm like, "Yeah, it's OK.' "

While the Wildcats' two returning starters led the way, Arizona actually had six players score in double digits, with freshman guard Caleb Holt scoring 15, point guards Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit each scoring 12 and freshman forward Maksim Brnovic scoring 10 points off the bench.

Brnovic was the Wildcats' most efficient player offensively, hitting 4 of 6 field goals that included 2 of 3 3-pointers. He had one turnover but also one steal.

"It feels really good," Brnovic said. "When I came in the first time, I just brought the energy on both ends on the floor."

Together, the Wildcats jumped to an early 19-9 start before SDSU went on a 19-3 run to go ahead 28-22 with 6:19 left in the first half. For most of that stretch, the Wildcats hit just 1 of 10 field goals.

However, UA went on a 16-2 run to close out the half, with Kharchenkov hitting a running jumper with five seconds left. Kharchenkov finished the half with six points and 10 rebounds.

UA's shooting of 33.3% in the first half and 36.1% in the second half was somewhat reminiscent of UA's 68-45 grind-it-out win over San Diego State in Phoenix last December, when the Wildcats shot just 36% before halftime and made just one of 10 3-pointers, though they had only two turnovers in the first half Friday and 10 in the first half against SDSU last season.

"For sure," Lloyd said of the resemblance between the games. "They have a formula they use, and of course they have some adjustments they can make within it. But that's a core defense that they feel will be successful against us, and it had some success at certain points of the night. If we wouldn't have taken care of the ball or offensive rebounded, the outcome could have been different."

The Wildcats took a 40-32 lead at halftime but also struggled during a second-round stretch before leading by double-digits over the final 13 minutes. 

Playing again without forward RJ Godfrey, who remains out while his Georgia “five-for-five” lawsuit remains in limbo, the Wildcats went with the same smaller lineup they featured on Tuesday against San Francisco: With Dixon at point guard, Bryce James and Caleb Holt on the wings, Kharchenkov at power forward and Krivas at center.

Now 4-1 in exhibition games dating back to their Lithuania trip in August, the Wildcats will play a final exhibition game on Oct. 23 against Eastern Washington before opening the regular-season on Nov. 2 against UCLA in Las Vegas.