SEATTLE — The Arizona Wildcats were 4-4 when they lost projected first-round NBA Draft pick Motiejus Krivas for the season in December. Since then, they have gone 20-8, finished third in the Big 12 and reached the Sweet 16.
Krivas knows what that suggests, and he’s fine with it.
He’s not wild about his foot/ankle injury, which kept him in a boot much of the season, but is about how his absence helped solidify roles in the Wildcats’ interior this season.
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas sits on the sideline wearing a boot on his left foot before the start of the game against UCLA at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Dec. 14, 2024.
About how he was the central figure in what ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla gingerly called "a case of addition by subtraction."
Without Krivas, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has started Tobe Awaka consistently at center, developed a complementary power forward duo in Henri Veesaar and Trey Townsend, while also dishing more minutes at gifted freshman forward Carter Bryant.
“I always thought that they can play like that,” Krivas said. “My injury just put everyone in the places and helped them show their best side.”
Sidelined with a stress-related foot injury late last summer after playing nonstop for a year with Arizona and the Lithuanian U20 team, Krivas sat out most of the preseason and then played in the Wildcats’ first eight games.
Coming off the bench for UA’s first four games, Krivas showed promise right away with nine points and five rebounds while getting to the free-throw line eight times in the Wildcats’ season opener against Canisius.
After Arizona lost 103-88 at Wisconsin in the Wildcats’ fourth game of the season, Krivas started against Duke on Nov. 22 and had five points and three fouls in 19 minutes. Then he went back to the bench for the Thanksgiving-week Battle 4 Atlantis and had just one point in 17 minutes in UA’s loss to West Virginia at the end of that event.
Duke guard Cooper Flagg drives around Arizona guard Jaden Bradley, left, and Motiejus Krivas, middle, during their game on Nov. 22.
Meanwhile, Awaka started at center when Krivas didn’t but struggled to find consistency. Asked to come off the bench for the UA-Duke game, Awaka went scoreless in 14 minutes.
But after Krivas played his last game on Dec. 7 against Southern Utah, Awaka began finding his groove, improving to the point where he was named honorable mention All-Big 12.
It was hard to watch, Krivas said, but also good to watch.
“At first it was a little tough but now I understand it and it’s fine,” he said during Arizona's trip to Seattle for first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games. “I’m really happy that the team is doing well. Of course, I really want to get on the court but I understand I can't so I'm just cheering for them.”
Throughout most of Big 12 play, Veesaar emerged as a versatile two-way threat while Townsend played a big role late in the regular season and in the Big 12 Tournament.
Meanwhile, Bryant — the Wildcats’ other projected first-round pick — took advantage of the opportunity at both forward spots created from a trickle-down effect from Krivas’ absence in the post.
“They had high hopes for Mo Krivas, obviously, and he would have been terrific," Fraschilla said midway through the Big 12 season. "But when he got hurt, they had to juggle that lineup, and it’s made the team tighter.
“There’s less confusion about where Carter Bryant is going to play. He’s playing mostly at the four. Tobe Awaka had to step up, Veesaar had to step into a role as a 7-footer, and I think Tommy did a masterful job.”
Through it all, Krivas sat and watched, mostly in person. He accompanied the Wildcats on most of their road trips, taking a detour from Arizona’s Cincinnati-to-West Virginia leg in early January by going to New York for a surgery.
Since then, he’s returned for rehab work with trainer Justin Kokoskie and strength coach Chris Rounds, and he’s begun limited work on the court.
“Just follow the plan for the injury,” he said.
Krivas said he expects to be able to return fully by early summer, but it’s still not entirely clear where he’ll be playing after that. While the injury might indicate Krivas would delay entering the NBA Draft, he said his injury "doesn’t change anything."
But if he does return to the Wildcats as a third-year player next season, Arizona's rotation just might be even better.
“He’s a great person and a great player,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "He’s an important part of our program going forward.”
