No. 12 Arizona walked into Neville Arena and walked out with a statement, taking down Auburn 80-69 on Friday, Nov.
- The Wildcats improved to 3-1, picked up their first SEC road win in ten years, and snapped Auburn’s 71-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.
Caleb Holt set the tone in his homecoming game in Huntsville, Alabama. The freshman delivered a game-high 24 points, nine rebounds and five steals, while knocking down 4 of 6 from beyond the arc and shooting 50% overall.
“An incredibly mature performance for a 19-year-old guy (Holt),” head coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I had a good feeling about how he was going to come out today.”
Arizona got major help from Ivan Kharchankov, who added 19 points and eight rebounds on 9-for-19 shooting, and Motiejus Krivas, who finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Krivas also went 6-for-7 at the free-throw line and capped the win with a double-double.
Lloyd also made his first starting lineup change of the season, inserting J.J. Mandaquit and sending Bryce James to the bench to add more ball-handling to the opening group.
“That lineup has been our best lineup. So sometimes you start it and then you fall into six or eight more minutes a game of it and we kind of opened with that lineup and close with that lineup,” Lloyd said.
Arizona’s start was sharp. The Wildcats opened up a 14-9 lead seven minutes in after back-to-back threes from Holt and Derek Dixon. Auburn answered with a 6-0 burst to move in front 17-14, but Arizona kept coming.
Krivas powered the Wildcats back ahead with a tough and-one with a little more than five minutes left in the half, then added another basket in the paint to make it 27-22. Kharchankov followed with a fast-break layup to stretch the margin to nine before Auburn trimmed it back down with consecutive triples in the final minute. Holt briefly steadied Arizona, and Auburn’s Kolby King closed the half with a floater to send the Tigers into the break down 36-32.
The Wildcats came out of halftime with force. A 7-0 run pushed the lead to 12, highlighted by another and-one from Krivas, and Holt soon made it 46-32 by drawing contact and converting both free throws.
Auburn didn’t fold. The Tigers ripped off an 11-2 run and eventually tied the game with more than 10 minutes left, cutting Arizona’s cushion to just two.
From there, the game turned into a grind. The teams traded baskets for the next four minutes before Kharchankov split the defense for a scoop layup. On the next possession, Krivas blocked Tahaad Pettiford at the rim, and Dixon turned that stop into transition points to put Arizona up 65-61 with under six minutes left.
After an Auburn timeout, Kharchankov buried a big three to stretch the lead to seven, and Arizona finished the job from there. The Wildcats closed it out at the line and held Auburn to 2-for-13 shooting over the final seven minutes.
“We felt like this was a really important game for our season,” Lloyd said. “This team is trying to establish its identity and build our confidence.”
In Other News...
Kentucky Escape Exposed Warning Signs Arizona Fans Will Notice
No. 24 Kentucky had enough offense to survive Northern Arizona, but not enough control to make the finish comfortable, escaping with a 78-77 win after building a 13-point lead and then watching the Lumberjacks chip away possession by possession. Kentucky shot 56.4% and handed out 21 assists, yet the bigger story was how quickly the game tightened once Northern Arizona started finding rhythm from deep in the second half.
For Arizona fans, the warning signs are easy to spot in a game like this: a talented opponent can still be vulnerable if it gives up extra chances and lets a smaller team hang around. Northern Arizona outrebounded Kentucky 32-20 and kept the pressure on late, turning what looked like a routine result into a tense finish that left the No. 24 team needing one last answer. [Read more 🡒]
Tommy Lloyd Just Created A New Arizona Rotation Debate
Tommy Lloyd shook up Arizonas starting lineup against Auburn, inserting JJ Mandaquit for Bryce James and giving the Wildcats a different look right away. The new first five carried most of the scoring load, while the bench offered only limited help offensively, leaving the rotation conversation very much alive as Arizona continues to sort out its early-season pieces.
Lloyd said the move was tied to the matchup and the way he wanted the game to play out, but it also underscored a larger issue for Arizona: the second unit still has work to do. With UConn next on the schedule, the Wildcats are already facing a decision point on how much they can lean on the starters and how quickly the bench can grow into a more reliable part of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Arizonas Biggest Home Test Just Got More Complicated Late
Arizonas home date with Utah already carried plenty of weight, and now it comes with a later start and a little more uncertainty around the edges. The Wildcats are set to welcome the Utes in a matchup that had to be pushed back to an 8:30 MST kickoff because of nationwide flying issues, adding another wrinkle to a game that was never going to feel routine.
Arizona has been perfect at home, but this is the kind of test that can clarify where a team really stands. Utah arrives with a strong defensive identity under Morgan Scalley after Kyle Whittinghams departure, and the Wildcats will get this one before closing out the regular season with Kansas State and Arizona State, which only raises the stakes for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]