The on-again, off-again season of Arizona center Motiejus Krivas is now officially over.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd confirmed Monday after UA's 90-81 win over TCU that the UA center would not return this season, after Krivas missed most of the preseason and the Wildcats' past four games with pain in his left foot.
"I met with Mo today," Lloyd said. "It doesn't look like he's going to play, but he's a great person and a great player, and he's an important part of our program going forward."
Lloyd said on Sunday that surgery was among the possibilities for Krivas and reiterated that possibility Monday but stopped short of confirming it would happen.
"I'll let J-Rock (trainer Justin Kokoskie) and the training staff kind of make those announcements and and Nate (Wiechers, UA athletic communications chief) when the time is right," Lloyd said. "I don't want to violate any HIPAA rules or anything but it doesn't like he's coming back this year."
Krivas appears to have a stress-related injury that flared up in the preseason after a busy summer that including playing a standout role for Lithuania in the U20 EuroBasket event.
Krivas sat out most of the preseason and was cleared to play for the start of the regular season but, after playing in UA's first eight games, was reshelved before the Wildcats faced UCLA on Dec. 14.
Lloyd had already begun shifting his rotation in anticipation of a long absence by Krivas, pulling freshman Emmanuel Stephen out of a redshirt season, while shifting some of freshman Carter Bryant's minutes to power forward and relying more heavily on redshirt sophomore Henri Veesaar, who can play both center and power forward.
TCU guard Noah Reynolds (21), center Malick Diallo (32) and Arizona forward Henri Veesaar (13) all grab for the rebound in the second half during a game at McKale Center on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. Arizona won 90-81.
Veesaar had a season-high 15 points off the bench Monday, while also collecting six rebounds and four assists.
"We're going to be able to be able to roll with Henri, and he's going to get probably a little more opportunity," Lloyd said, "and for him to kind of have a kick off his Big 12 career the way he did tonight was a great sign."
