Arizona Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa (25) gets slapped by Colorado Buffaloes guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (3) as he drives into the lane in the second half of their Pac 12 basketball game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., January 13, 2022.

Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa will not play for the Wildcats against Utah on Saturday at McKale Center for what the school said were "non-COVID precautionary reasons."

Justin Kier will start in Kriisa's place at point guard, the first time UA coach Tommy Lloyd has changed his starting lineup this season. A super senior from Virginia, Kier has played a reserve role so far this season but started 119 college games between three seasons at George Mason and last season at Georgia.

A sophomore from Estonia, Kriisa has started all 14 of the Wildcats' previous games at point guard, averaging 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

While Kriisa did not appear on the court in pregame warmups and was not on the team bench, he was spotted inside McKale Center without a uniform on before the game.ย 

Before Saturday, The Wildcats had started the same starting lineup for all 14 games and hadn't missed any of their rotation players except for reserve forward Kim Aiken, who has been missing since Dec. 8 for unspecified reasons.


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