Even in a 71-point exhibition rout, Arizona men's basketball found plenty to learn from

When Arizona started centers Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas together during an experimental night at McKale Center on Monday, it was the only one of the Wildcats’ many lineups that didn’t really work.

Not that it was necessarily the big guys’ fault.

Embry-Riddle, the Wildcats’ NAIA neighbors from Prescott, hit 4 of 5 3-pointers against the big Arizona lineup early to trail UA just 13-12 at the first media timeout of the Wildcats’ eventual 113-42 exhibition romp.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd never went to the double-big lineup afterward, leaving him a small sample size to judge if having two bigs affected his perimeter defense.

“We’ll have to see. I mean, I’m sure it could have something to do with it,” Lloyd said. “If they give up two 3s in the first game, does that set the course all year for how they’re going to defend?

“Those things happen, and I think you learn from them, and you grow.”

The offensive side of the equation was of interest, too. While Awaka and Krivas combined for six points over the first four minutes, with four coming from Krivas, Awaka’s game flowed dominantly afterward, mostly on moves to the basket.

Arizona went on a 10-0 run to take a 25-14 lead with 11:40 left in the first half before guard Evan Nelson assisted Awaka for two straight inside scores.

Awaka had 14 points and 10 rebounds at halftime, and the Wildcats were never challenged the rest of the night. He finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Awaka did have a motivational edge. While Awaka’s teammates were sandwiching in the Embry-Riddle game between a challenging exhibition with Saint Mary’s and a season opener against defending national champion Florida, Awaka sat out the UA-Saint Mary’s game with an undisclosed injury.

“Not being out there is hard,” Awaka said. “You work hard as a team throughout the whole summer, and obviously you want to be out there with your guys.”

Awaka still only had a chance to play just 21 minutes Monday, in part because UA was already leading 58-26 at halftime and because Lloyd said he didn’t want to push it with either big guy.

Lloyd gave just five minutes to Awaka after halftime and none to Krivas, who missed most of last season with a foot issue.

“I thought the game was pretty well in control, and those guys are really important players for us,” Lloyd said. “I would have felt like I wasn’t doing the program justice by playing those guys had some freak accident happened.”

Instead, Lloyd deployed all 16 of his players, turning to deep reserves Sidi Gueye and Bryce James in the first half. In the second half, Lloyd began emptying his bench completely with over 12 minutes to go.

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He also gave double-digit minutes to freshman forwards Gueye and Mabil Mawut, noting afterward that “there might be opportunities for some guys to redshirt.”

Meanwhile, sophomore walk-on guard Sven Djopmo drew cheers while grabbing two steals and scoring nine points over 10 minutes.

“I’m happy that all of our guys got an opportunity to play,” Lloyd said. “These guys really contribute to our program in a lot of ways. I’m glad they got to get out in front of the crowd, wear that Arizona jersey and (playing at) McKale is pretty special.”

Lloyd began the night with a substitution of sorts: He put freshman Brayden Burries at point guard, freshman Dwayne Aristode on the wing alongside Anthony Dell’Orso, while starting Awaka and Krivas together. That left the Wildcats’ veteran point guard, Jaden Bradley, and projected freshman starting forward Koa Peat on the bench.

“It was just to get some guys in different opportunities,” Lloyd said. “We’re not a program that really worries about who the starters are, so I just thought it was an opportunity to get some guys some different minutes.

“Obviously, Tobe didn’t play last game, so I wanted to get him some early minutes and I wanted to give Brayden some minutes at that point guard early, but nothing much more than that.”

That initial lineup actually ran into multiple issues, the way Lloyd described it.

“I know there’s going to be some things because they made four 3s basically before the first media time out,” Lloyd said. “But I think that’s a great lesson for our guys two ways: One, you’ve got to come out from the tip ready to execute your plan, and you don’t ease into a game.

“Two, teams sometimes make early 3s. Don’t panic. Adjust. I didn’t feel like they had a lot of great looks after those first couple.”

Embry-Riddle hit just 2 of 16 3-pointers after its initial 4-for-5 outburst and was crushed on the glass throughout the evening. UA wound up outrebounding the Eagles 58-15 overall, and the Wildcats scored 20 second-chance points on their 20 offensive rebounds.

While that kind of rebounding differential was hardly unexpected considering the talent and size gap between UA and Embry-Riddle, it might have still come as something of a relief for an Arizona team that was outrebounded 39-35 in its 81-68 win against Saint Mary’s.

Lloyd noted that part of the problem was that Awaka was sitting on the bench during that game, but still found the issue yet another thing to work on.

“I know Saint Mary’s is a great rebounding team,” Lloyd said. “They have a really sound plan in how they defensive rebound and you have to break down their defense, get them in rotations, and be relentless in your force and your pursuit of offensive rebounds.

“I thought it was a great lesson for us to learn. There’s an every possession mentality that it takes.”