Somewhat similarly, Kharchenkov made up for his 1-for-6 3-point shooting by driving to the basket forcefully and hitting 5 of 11 two-pointers, while grabbing 10 defensive rebounds, dishing four assists and collecting two steals.
Along the way, he even nearly took out a cameraman along the baseline, appearing to suffer most from the blow himself after he hit the floor.
“At first I thought it was a chair, but then my own camera guy told me, “Yo, Ivan, I’m sorry,’ ” Kharchenkov said. “I’m like, “Yeah, it’s OK.’ “
Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) transitions the ball after winning a rebound in the game against San Diego State, McKale Center at Alkeme Arena, Oct. 16, 2026.
While the Wildcats’ two returning starters led the way, Arizona actually had six players score in double digits, with freshman guard Caleb Holt scoring 15, point guards Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit each scoring 12 and freshman forward Maksim Brnovic scoring 10 points off the bench.
Brnovic was the Wildcats’ most efficient player offensively, hitting 4 of 6 field goals that included 2 of 3 3-pointers. He had one turnover but also one steal.
“It feels really good,” Brnovic said. “When I came in the first time, I just brought the energy on both ends on the floor.”
Together, the Wildcats jumped to an early 19-9 start before SDSU went on a 19-3 run to go ahead 28-22 with 6:19 left in the first half. For most of that stretch, the Wildcats hit just 1 of 10 field goals.
However, UA went on a 16-2 run to close out the half, with Kharchenkov hitting a running jumper with five seconds left. Kharchenkov finished the half with six points and 10 rebounds.
UA’s shooting of 33.3% in the first half and 36.1% in the second half was somewhat reminiscent of UA’s 68-45 grind-it-out win over San Diego State in Phoenix last December, when the Wildcats shot just 36% before halftime and made just one of 10 3-pointers, though they had only two turnovers in the first half Friday and 10 in the first half against SDSU last season.