While it won’t count in the record books or standings, Arizona Men’s Basketball and its fans alike are excited to finally have a non-Wildcat opponent in McKale. Arizona is hosting Saint Mary’s, one of the nation’s premier mid-major programs, in an exhibition match in Tucson on Saturday, and we’re letting you know what to watch for in this Wildcats vs. Gaels preview.
Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats are taking advantage of the NCAA relaxing the rules surrounding preseason competition. Until this year, all public exhibitions had to be against non-Division I college teams, while D1 schools were required to hold “secret” scrimmages behind closed doors if they wanted to meet before the start of the season. With Arizona hosting those secret scrimmages against Saint Mary’s under both Tommy Lloyd and Sean Miller, an exhibition between the Wildcats and Gaels was all too likely.
“It’s a great program,” said Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd. “It’s been one of the most consistent programs in the country for, let’s go 10, 15, 20 years now. Randy’s a great coach, we have a good relationship. The relationship with Arizona goes before me. My relationship with him goes before me coming here. It just makes great sense. So when we thought about doing this, and obviously being able to ticket it to help generate some revenue, Saint Mary’s was an easy choice.”
Saint Mary’s is the first of two exhibition games for Arizona this season, with the Wildcats hosting in-state NAIA program Embry-Riddle on October 27. Lloyd mentioned that the UA had agreed to a game against the Mexican senior national team, but the NCAA denied the waiver to play an international opponent in its second exhibition game.
Line ’em up:
While Tommy Lloyd hasn’t figured out exactly what Saturday’s starting five will look like, a combination of seniors Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell’Orso, and Tobe Awaka, along with five-star freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat is highly likely. Veteran Motiejus Krivas could also start in place of either Koa Peat or Tobe Awaka.
“I wouldn’t read anything into it one way or another,” said Lloyd when asked about he starting five.
Those six figure to see the lion’s share of the minutes, along with freshman wing and five-star recruit Dwayne Aristode, followed by freshmen Ivan Kharchenkov and Sidi Gueye, and Tucson native and Harvard transfer Evan Nelson. Freshmen Bryce James and Mabil Mawut, both of whom are possible redshirt candidates this season, would likely be the last scholarship players in line to see minutes in the game.
“I hope everyone gets an opportunity to play, we just got to figure out what that looks like,” Lloyd said. “But also we have an obligation to prepare the team for tough games ahead. So we got to figure out if there’s certain lineups we need to look at, or a certain number of minutes we want to get guys, we kind of got to figure out what that looks like. A lot of things will be taken into consideration, but I’m hopeful we can get everybody a little burn in the game, for sure.”
First time for everything:
Saturday marks the first time this season the roster will face an actual opponent. Up to this point, the team has been limited to practice sessions and the Red-Blue Showcase, which featured two 10-minute periods, as well as a number of other extracurriculars including the three-point contest, dunk contest, and a guest appearance by Rob Gronkowski.
“(It’s a) really good opportunity for us just to feel how it will look against great teams,” said center Motiejus Krivas.
It also gives Tommy Lloyd and the coaching staff an opportunity to see the team in the game day environment, even if it doesn’t count. Arizona opens the 2025-26 regular season against defending NCAA national champion Florida in Las Vegas, so the staff is eager to simulate game day, identify opportunities, and make corrections.
“We’re early, so early in the season, and we know we have some hard things coming,” Lloyd said. “It’s a great test for us. We want to get out and play against another team. I’m sure there’s going to be some positive things, and I’m sure there’s going to be some negative things, and we’re just going to use this as a learning opportunity and a growth opportunity. The overriding objective is going to be to learn and to grow and to build for hopefully having a great season.”
Return of the Mack Murauskas:
The Gaels’ lone returning starter from the 2024-25 squad that went 29-6, won the West Coast Conference regular season title, and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament is someone who knows a little something about what playing in McKale is like. Saint Mary’s wing Paulius Murauskas spent his freshman year at Arizona before transferring for his sophomore season, where he averaged 12.1 points and 7.7 rebonds. In 2023-24, Murauskas appeared in 23 games for the Wildcats, averaging 2.7 points in 5.0 minutes per game.
“I think he’s found a great spot for him, and I’m really happy for him,” said Lloyd. “And I think he had a good year for Saint Mary’s last year, and I think he’s poised to have a great year this year. I mean, he’s an all-conference type player for them.”
The Lithuania native Murauskas was unable to carve out a role in Arizona’s eight-man rotation as a freshman in 2023-24. While he may have been able to carve out a larger role had he stayed, Lloyd says there’s no ill will about Murauskas finding a new home.
“Sometimes you come to a place and it doesn’t work out for whatever reason. But I will say this, ‘Mura’ was nothing but a class act when he was here,” Lloyd said. “He’d come with the intention of playing, and I had hoped he would play, it just didn’t work out. Ultimately, I’m responsible for that so, so I’m happy that he’s kind of found his footing, and he’s pushing forward.”
Fellow Lithuanian Mo Krivas says the two still stay in touch and that he’s excited to see him back in McKale on Saturday. They actually caught up over the summer while they were both back home, where they “went fishing,” said Krivas.
Also making his return to the McKale Center is former Arizona wing Tautvilas Tubelis, who is now a graduate assistant for Saint Mary’s.