No. 22 UCLA beats No. 5 Arizona 84-75 despite Ivan Kharchenkov's 38

No. 22 UCLA opened its season with a top-five win Monday night, beating No. 5 Arizona 84-75 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, per the AP recap on ESPN and the ESPN box score. Trent Perry led the Bruins with 21 points, and he made all 11 of his free throws.

Arizona's Ivan Kharchenkov scored a career-high 38 points with 10 rebounds. His previous best was 20, against Denver last Nov. 24, according to the AP.

UCLA built it early

The Bruins broke a tie with a 14-point run to go up 27-13 and took a 43-29 lead into halftime. Arizona made 1 of 13 3-pointers in the first half, and UCLA's bench outscored the Wildcats' reserves 17-4 before the break. Kharchenkov had 18 of Arizona's 29 first-half points.

UCLA led for 90 percent of the game, per the ESPN box score, and its biggest lead was 16.

Arizona's comeback came up short

Arizona was much better after halftime and scored 46 points in the second half. Kharchenkov's two free throws with 3:11 left made it a one-point game. UCLA held on from there, and Arizona's largest lead of the night was two.

Kharchenkov finished 12 of 20 from the field and 12 of 16 at the line. Derek Dixon added 18 points but shot 5 of 17. The rest of the Wildcats combined for 19 points, and Arizona finished 7 of 30 from 3-point range. The AP noted that Arizona badly missed RJ Godfrey, who is ineligible after a lawsuit seeking a fifth season of eligibility was denied.

Who did it for UCLA

Jaylen Petty had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and made 4 of 6 from deep. Eric Dailey Jr. scored 13 with eight rebounds, and Nikola Kusturica blocked three shots. UCLA turned it over seven times and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.

The series

This was the first meeting at T-Mobile Arena since Arizona beat UCLA there in the 2023 Pac-12 tournament final, the AP said. The former Pac-12 rivals had split their previous 14 games, and Arizona won the most recent one a year ago.

What's next

UCLA hosts North Florida on Friday. Arizona hosts Cal Poly on Thursday. Watch where both teams land in next week's AP poll after a top-five team lost on opening night.