UCLA Survives Kharchenkov's Career Night in Vegas

UCLA and Arizona used to stage this game in March, in this same building, with a Pac-12 title hanging on it. On Monday night they opened the season with it instead — and No. 22 UCLA beat No. 5 Arizona 84-75 at neutral-site T-Mobile Arena in the Hall of Fame Series, leading by 14 at halftime, nearly giving the whole thing back in the final minutes, and closing it out at the free-throw line.

The Bruins took control midway through the first half with a 14-0 run, highlighted by a four-point play from Sergej Macura. When foul trouble piled up — Arizona was in the bonus with more than 13 minutes left in the half — UCLA dropped into a zone that stalled the Wildcats for long stretches. The Bruins' bench outscored Arizona's reserves 17-4 before halftime, Jaylen Petty scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, and UCLA did all of it without Filip Jovic, who sprained an ankle in practice on Friday.

Kharchenkov nearly took it by himself

Arizona's comeback had one author. Ivan Kharchenkov scored a career-high 38 points with 10 rebounds — 18 of them before halftime, when he was close to the Wildcats' entire offense. He went 12-of-20 from the field and 12-of-16 at the line. His previous career best was 20 points. Derek Dixon added 18 for Arizona, 16 after halftime; behind him, no other Wildcat scored more than eight.

The finish

A 10-0 run got Arizona within 71-70 on Kharchenkov's free throws with 3:11 left. Xavier Booker answered with a 3-pointer. Dixon hit another 3 to make it 78-75 with 1:04 remaining, Arizona forced a stop and got the ball back with a chance to tie — and the possession ended in a turnover. Eric Dailey Jr.'s dunk at the other end finished the argument, and Nikola Kusturica and Trent Perry made the last free throws.

Perry ran the close for UCLA: a team-high 21 points, and all 11 of his free throws went in. Every time Arizona's run needed an answer, the ball was in his hands. Dailey added 13 points and eight rebounds; Petty's line was 13 points and seven assists.

The full box score and play-by-play from T-Mobile are in the game's Game Center.

The start everyone watched

Bryce James's first college game lasted six minutes. The younger son of LeBron James started for Arizona on Monday night — his college debut, after redshirting last season — in the same spot he held through the Wildcats' three exhibition games. His assist in the first minute set up Kharchenkov for Arizona's first basket of the season. Then the game moved past him: out after three minutes, back for three more in the second half, finished with no points on 0-of-3 shooting and the one assist. Tommy Lloyd trusted him with the start. The rotation, at least for one night, did not keep him there.

UCLA left with the kind of win last season's team never got — the Bruins carried a No. 7 seed into the NCAA Tournament without a nonconference victory like this one. Mick Cronin, who does not hand out contentment often, sounded like a coach who likes what he has: "I have not had a bad day coaching this team," he said on the TNT broadcast. Arizona hosts Cal Poly on Thursday. UCLA hosts North Florida on Friday.