Arizona freshman guard Kerr Kriisa was scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting from 3-point range in Estonia's 84-56 loss to Russia in a FIBA Eurobasket 2022 qualifying game Saturday in Tallinn, Estonia.
Kriisa, who also had one assist but three turnovers Saturday, left Arizona earlier this week to play for his native Estonia in a pair of FIBA games since he has not yet been declared eligible by the NCAA. UA coach Sean Miller said Friday he would return after Estonia faces North Macedonia on Monday in its second qualifying game.
"If he was eligible to play, he wouldn't have left us to participate with the national team," Miller said after UA beat Grambling on Friday. "But because he's not eligible at the moment to play, I thought it was right for both him and his family and Estonia the country.
"He'll return right into the beginning of December, at the conclusion of his tournament. He's finishing up the semester, just like all of our players are and that's the other part, our academic life right now is on Zoom. You can do it really anywhere so that also led to us allowing him to go back to play for his country.
"We're hopeful that he can be eligible to play. He's a big part of our team. He's a very good shooter, playmaker gives us more depth."
The loss was a humbling one for Estonia, which was hosting the game.
"We made some scoring decisions which didnβt work out and then we also made some individual mistakes," Estonia coach Jukka Toijala said in English during the postgame news conference. "Physically and mentally we failed. We were not ready to play at the level we need to play against Russia. But the Russia we saw today was a high-level Russia.
"Its obvious when you lose like this, itβs a hit to your confidence."
