TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson’s No. 12 Arizona men’s basketball team rolled past Northern Arizona 90-59 on Tuesday night at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena, a blowout that also gave head coach Tommy Lloyd his 150th career win. The Wildcats improved to 2-1 and have now won two in a row after opening the season with a loss to No. 9 UCLA. Northern Arizona fell to 0-3.
Ivan Kharchenkov led Arizona with 20 points to go with 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and he is the first Wildcat since Allonzo Trier in 2017-18 to open a season with 20-plus points in each of his first three games. Caleb Holt added 17 points and Motiejus Krivas had 16 points and seven rebounds. The three combined for 53 points. Arizona shot 62 percent from the floor, scored 52 points in the paint to NAU’s 20, and finished with 26 assists on 37 field goals against only six turnovers.
The Wildcats built a 24-point halftime lead, 46-22, after shooting 17 of 26 from the field in the first half, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range, and holding a 20-8 edge in the paint. Northern Arizona went 4 of 16 from long range and did not score over the final 3:21 of the half. Arizona then stretched the margin with an 18-3 run after the break. Bryce James blocked a dunk try by Lucas Toukam, then hit a 3 that made the score 55-29.
Northern Arizona got 17 points from Chris Komin and 14 from Ryan Abelman. Arizona played a third straight game without forward RJ Godfrey, who is still waiting on an eligibility ruling. Arizona handed out 26 assists and committed just 6 turnovers, a pairing the program has posted only once since 1996-97, on Feb. 16, 2023, against Utah. Arizona’s next game is Friday at Auburn.
