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TUCSON, Ariz. – The HBU men's basketball team kicked off the 2018-19 season on Wednesday night at the McKale Center and trailed the Pac-12's Arizona Wildcats by nine at the half but ultimately fell, 90-60, in the season-opener.
 
HBU (0-1) got off to a slow start with Ian DuBose driving into the paint and dropping in a layup more than three minutes into the game for the team's first basket and the Huskies trailed 7-2 at the first media break. An Arizona (1-0) layup by Justin Coleman at the 14:12 mark put the Wildcats ahead 11-4 but HBU then held Arizona without a field goal for nearly six minutes.
 
With 6:42 left in the first half, Edward Hardt pulled HBU within five on a put-back layup after trailing by nine. The Huskies' deficit remained between five and nine for much of the half with UA pushing its lead to double-digits near the end of the half but with two seconds on the clock, sophomore Jalon Gates was fouled while shooting a three and made two of his three free throws to send HBU into the half trailing by nine, 33-24.
 
In the second half, Oliver Lynch-Daniels knocked down a three at the 17:12 mark to bring HBU within six but Arizona answered with an 11-point run. The Huskies broke the Wildcat run with a layup by DuBose that left HBU down by 15 with 11:23 remaining. Arizona built its lead through the second half and went ahead by 31 but junior Jackson Stent drained his first three of the night with 3:42 on the clock.
 
Lynch-Daniels finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and matched a career-high with six rebounds. Sophomore Philip McKenzie matched a new career-high on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds. Benjamin Uloko, a freshman, was 4-of-7 from the floor in his Husky debut for eight points with five rebounds while Gates led the Huskies with 15 points off the bench.
 
As a team HBU won the turnover battle, forcing the Wildcats into 13 turnovers while committing just 12. The Huskies finished the night 22-of-69 from the floor while Arizona shot 49.1 percent, connecting on 28-of-57. Arizona was led by Brandon Randolph who finished with 25 points while Chase Jeter had 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
HBU returns to Houston for the home-opener in Sharp Gym on Saturday, Nov. 10, when the Huskies will host Fordham with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.