Motiejus Krivas pours in career-high 30 points while Arizona cruises past Cal Poly

First, Krivas was pouring in a career-high 30 points in a game paced in part by one of the nation's most uptempo minded teams, Cal Poly, helping the Wildcats put away the Mustangs 104-84 at McKale on Thursday.

Also, he had to get out of the arena as soon as possible because the game didn't end until nearly 11 p.m. -- and he had an assignment due at midnight. That's what told a UA official while apologizing for not being on hand for a postgame media interview.

Krivas' actions, and those of several teammates, spoke louder than words anyway.

Coming off a stinging 84-75 loss in their season opener Monday against UCLA – after winning their first 23 games last season – the fifth-ranked Wildcats rebounded quickly and predictably against their undersized yet uptempo-minded opponents from Central California.

Arizona shot 54.5% from the field, outrebounded Cal Poly 44-30 and took 15 more trips to the free-throw line, making 28 of 36 free throws. The Wildcats also scored 25 points off 19 Cal Poly turnovers, though the Mustangs managed to hit 16 of 37 3-pointers (43.2%) to keep the game from turning into a blowout.

"Up and down," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said of the Wildcats' overall performance. "Obviously we're happy to get the win, and we don't make light of any win. I thought Cal Poly presented a lot of challenges with the relentlessness they play with, and when you're when you're willing to shoot that many threes from that many positions, that can stack up on you."

UA led for all but the first 72 seconds of the game, taking a 18-point lead at halftime and staying ahead of the Mustangs by up to 29 in the second half.

While Krivas hit the 30-point mark, sophomore forward Ivan Kharchenkov had 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Of the UA freshmen, guard Caleb Holt scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, while forward Cameron Holmes 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

Holmes embodied the Wildcats' change from Monday to Thursday: He had just one point and missed both field goals he tried against the Bruins on Monday in what was his college debut.

Off the bench on Thursday, Holmes hit his first attempt, a 3-pointer, to give UA a 33-20 lead with 8:32 left in the first half. Thirty seconds later, he made a layup on the break.

"It felt great," Holmes said. "I feel like my teammates prior to the UCLA game were just telling me to be confident in my shot. When I knocked it down, it felt amazing. Just to finally hit one, and know that all the work that I put in is working."

Saying Holmes is an "awesome kid," Lloyd said he was happy to see him find some success -- and that Holmes can built on that partly by adjusting on the other end of the court a little.

"I hope defensively he kind of settles in and kind of quits making up his own rules," Lloyd said. "It looks like he's making up his own rules out there, kind of hustling around. I mean, it's not from a lack of effort. It's just we gotta understand we have a plan for a reason."

Cal Poly guard Hamad Mousa, the Big West Conference’s leading scorer last season, also had 30 points to lead the Mustangs.

Up 59-41 at halftime, UA never trailed by less than 17 points the rest of the half, going on an 8-0 run midway through to take an 81-56 lead. At that point, the Wildcats were shooting 56.0% and holding the Mustangs to just 38.0%.

KIrivas went to the bench for good with 5:18 left, having scored his 30 piounts by hitting 10 of 13 field goals and 10 of 12 free throws.

In the first half, Krivas and Kharchenkov each had 14 points to help Arizona jump out to a 59-41 halftime lead

Holt added 13 points and Holmes added nine off the bench for UA, which shot 62.5% in the first half and scored 19 points off 14 Cal Poly turnovers.

Holt had 11 points over the first eight minutes of the game, making 4 of 6 field goals to that point while getting to the line four times and hitting three free throws.

Cal Poly kept it close early, pulling within 16-15 on a 3-pointer from Jess Esso Essis, before UA scored nine straight points to take a 25-15 lead with just over 11 minutes to go. Arizona later went on a 13-0 run to go ahead 41-20 after Holmes dunked and hit a pullup jumper with just over seven minutes left in the half.

The Wildcats were playing again without power forward RJ Godfrey, whose attorneys filed a lawsuit against UA and the Arizona Board of Regents in his latest effort to gain eligibility as a “five-for-five” player in the high school class of 2022.

Filed in Pima County Superior Court, the lawsuit says UA failed as a member of the NCAA by not certifying Godfrey because the NCAA’s official bylaw for its new five-year eligibility rule does not specifically rule out 2022 players even as other communication from the NCAA has said they are excluded.

Lloyd said he was only told about the lawsuit after Thursday's game, and that he didn't know the "ins and outs" of what was happening.

"I obviously have no comment on it because I because I don't know really what I'm commenting on," Lloyd said. "Secondly, I'm not pushing any buttons. I guess we'll learn more."