Arizona Wildcats start Bryce James in season opener vs. UCLA

With no RJ Godfrey, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd opted to start Bryce James in the Wildcats’ season opener against UCLA.

Arizona started the same lineup as it did during the three exhibition games at McKale Center, including James, Derek Dixon, Caleb Holt, Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas, as the Wildcats remained without Godfey.

Godfrey (Arizona’s expected power forward) also missed all previous six exhibition games, including the three games in Lithuania, as he tries to secure eligibility as a “five-for-five” player.

The son of LeBron James, Bryce is a sophomore and did not play last year after redshirting.

In Monday’s season opener, James was taken out 3:08 into the game, similar to the exhibition games when he was also the first player Lloyd substituted.

Lloyd could be starting James because he believed he’d have Godfrey and does not want to mess up his rotations.

James started 0 for 2 from the field but had a nice find to Kharchenkov to register an assist.

Blocked off the backboard ➡️ Bryce James dime 👀

Arizona and UCLA finish off the night in Vegas on TNT NOW 📺 https://t.co/W4zOqKKSoz

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 3, 2026

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