No. 5 Arizona gets its first chance to answer Thursday night when it hosts Cal Poly at ALKEME Arena at McKale Center, a home opener that comes three days after the Wildcats opened the season with an 84-75 loss to UCLA. It was Arizona’s first season-opening loss in 20 years, and it put immediate pressure on a team still sorting out its rotation.
That is why Cal Poly is drawing attention far beyond a routine nonconference game. Arizona has not started 0-2 since the 1982-83 season, and KenPom.com projected a 25-point win, which makes the real question less about whether the Wildcats should win and more about how they look while doing it. Tommy Lloyd said he wanted to win against UCLA but was ready to move forward and get better, and he added that the setback could be a great catalyst for the team.
For Bryce James, the opener was part of that early evaluation. He made his first career start on Monday and played six minutes against UCLA, missing all three of his shots while finishing without a point and with one assist. If RJ Godfrey were eligible, James would not have started all three exhibition games, a sign that Arizona’s starting five is still being tested even before the conference race begins.
The rest of the rotation showed the same uncertainty. JJ Mandaquit scored Arizona’s only reserve basket with a 3-pointer and played 32 minutes, while Cameron Holmes did not play in the second half. Ugnius Jarusevicius logged six minutes in relief of Motiejus Krivas, Maksim Brnovic posted three rebounds and one assist in 11 minutes, and Caleb Holt started, played 27 minutes, and finished with seven points and seven rebounds despite four fouls.
That mix of results is what makes Thursday more than a formality. Arizona is one of two home buy games before Auburn, UConn and the Maui Invitational raise the stakes, and Lloyd now has a short window to decide whether the same five should go back out there or whether the opener exposed enough to force a change. The answer may not come all at once, but the first response to UCLA starts against Cal Poly.
