In the first of three expected exhibition games for UA men's basketball coach Tommy Lloyd's new-look Wildcats as part of their Summer 2023 Mideast tour, Arizona took on Israel Select Monday morning, dispatching the home team 124-77.
The game offered the first chance for Arizona fans to watch newcomers like transfers Caleb Love (to the UA from North Carolina), Keshad Johnson (from 2023 NCAA runner-up San Diego State) and Jaden Bradley (from Alabama), as well as freshmen including Motiejus Krivas and Paulius Murauskas.
Arizona returns standouts Oumar Ballow, Kylan Boswell and Pelle Larsson — the 2021-22 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year — to this year's squad.
Israel Select was coached by Amit Tamir, who is all too familiar with the red and blue of the Wildcats from his own college playing days as an All-Pac-12 forward in 2003 at Cal.
Monday's game at Tel Aviv's Hadar Yosef Arena was streamed by the UA athletic department via YouTube. If the embed in this story isn't working properly, head to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWNIVi4Zqs0.
Seen & Heard: Pro scouts to get early look at Arizona basketball in Monday exhibition in Israel
The UA men's basketball team and traveling party spill into Jerusalem’s Old City after entering though the Jaffa Gate Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Video by Bruce Pascoe/Arizona Daily Star
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd (center, white shirt) and Wildcats Grant Weitman, Luke Champion, Oumar Ballo, Pelle Larsson, Kylan Boswell, Filip Borovicanin, Motiejus Krivas, Paulius Murauskas and Conrad Martinez gather Saturday during an on-court workout at the Sylvan Adams Sports Center of the Jerusalem International YMCA.
