Arizona big Motiejus Krivas teammates again with Paulius Murauskas in U20 EuroBasket event

Thanks to the limited playing time that prompted him to leave Arizona for Saint Mary’s after last season, Paulius Murauskas couldn’t build much of an on-court bond with fellow Lithuanian Motiejus Krivas at McKale Center.

He can now. Murauskas and Krivas are expected to be two of the top players in the FIBA U20 EuroBasket event that starts Saturday in Gdynia, Poland, leading Lithuania’s top youth team while UA sophomore guard Conrad Martinez could wind up facing them in the bracketed rounds playing for Spain.

Martinez is expected to play a reserve role for the well-regarded Spanish team, which also features UCLA forward Aday Mara, but Murauskas and Krivas are receiving top billing overall in the event.

In a preview for FIBA’s website, European scouting analyst Ignacio Rissotto included both Lithuanians among the 11 players to watch in the event, along with former UCLA big man Berke Buyuktuncel of Turkey and former Illinois forward Zacharie Perrin of perennial power France.

“Lithuania will have one of the most talented rosters in Gdynia, with several players who are making an impact for high-major programs in the NCAA,” Rissotto wrote. “Murauskas will have the opportunity to cap off a productive individual career in FIBA youth competitions with Lithuania’s first U20 title since 2012.”

Murauskas, who appeared in only 23 of UA’s 36 games last season, averaged 20.7 points in the 2022 U18 EuroBasket while spending most of the 2022-23 season in Lithuania’s top pro league. The 2024 event will give Murauskas a chance to showcase himself once again.

“The name of the game for the recent Saint Mary’s commit is versatility, as he can put the ball on the basket a different number of ways,” Rissotto wrote.

“His combination of size, strength, fluidity and touch allows him to create his own shot in the post and score in traffic, but he’s also a threat from the perimeter, being able to score on drives to the basket and catch-and-shoot opportunities behind the 3-point line.”

There’s a precedent for former Wildcats to play well in the U20 event. Last season, former UA wing Adama Bal helped lead France to gold in what was then called the U20 European Championships, then played a standout role for Santa Clara last spring.

Krivas, meanwhile, is expected to play an even bigger role than he did in last summer’s U20 event, when he averaged 12.9 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds for Lithuania.

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In part because Krivas went on to show so much promise as a freshman for the Wildcats last season, UA coach Tommy Lloyd described the departure of all-conference center Oumar Ballo to Indiana as a mutual decision.

“At some point, you’ve got to look beyond just one player,” Lloyd said in May. “You’re building a program over a long period of time, and you have players coming up from underneath. Even Oumar acknowledged that.”

Playing an average of 12.1 minutes last season over 36 games for Arizona, Krivas averaged 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds. He’s expected to start at center next season.

“The 19-year-old continued his ascendant trajectory at the University of Arizona, where he quickly became a contributor off the bench for one of the top teams in the NCAA,” Rissotto wrote. “Krivas stands out with his massive size, which makes him an imposing presence around the basket and allows him to collect rebounds, block shots and finish plays against contact, but he also possesses a tremendous level of coordination and mobility for his size, which makes him also a threat in transition and as a self-creator in the low post.

“The dynamic duo of Krivas and Paulius Murauskas will be one of the keys for a Lithuanian team that hasn’t won the U20 title in more than a decade.”

Meanwhile, Martinez is expected to play the sort of reserve role he will be auditioning for at Arizona next season. He could become the Wildcats’ top backup point guard behind Jaden Bradley, or UA could slide over Caleb Love, KJ Lewis or even forward Trey Townsend to the point if needed.

Martinez and Krivas will be among the few current and former UA representatives remaining at the international level this summer, though Steve Kerr is coaching Team USA, while Josh Green has made Australia’s Olympic team and Dusan Ristic is on Serbia’s 16-player roster that will be trimmed to 12.

Former UA guard Nico Mannion (Italy) and former UA forward Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania) missed out on the Olympics when Puerto Rico won the Olympic Qualifying Tournament that Italy and Lithuania played in.

Tubelis was scoreless while playing less than a minute of Lithuania’s 79-68 loss to Puerto Rico in the championship game. Tubelis averaged 4.0 points and 1.3 rebounds over four games in the event, while Mannion averaged 8.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists.