Caleb Love edges out new teammate Anthony Dell'Orso twice in Arizona's Red-Blue Showcase at McKale

Not long after the Arizona Wildcats swung open the doors to a new season Friday at McKale Center, returning standout Caleb Love and new teammate Anthony Dell’Orso went after each other in in a razor-close 3-point shooting contest.

Love won that one, 17-16, when he hit a final “moneyball” shot from the left corner to beat Dell’Orso, the Wildcats’ new shooter from Australia via Campbell University.

Then the two essentially went at it again in the Red-Blue Showcase scrimmage. Love had 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting to lead the Red team to a 47-44 win – while Dell’Orso had 15 points and hit 4 of 8 3-pointers, but missed a contested 3 from the right corner just before that buzzer that might have sent the 20-minute game to overtime.

“Me and Delly usually work out together pretty much every day, so it's no surprise that he was making as many shots as he was and it came down to us two in the 3-point contest,” Love said. “I see the work that he puts in and he sees the work that I put in, and so we just kind of feed off each other.”

While Dell’Orso was not available for comment afterward, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said the performances of the two wings was consistent with what he’s seen before in practice so far this preseason.

“I would say overall they’re our two best shooters,” Lloyd said. “We've had some other guys shoot the ball well too -- I think KJ (Lewis) and Jaden (Bradley) have both made a lot of progress in that area.”

Lloyd went on to say he’s also seen improved 3-point shooting from forward Henri Veesaar, who missed all of last season with an elbow injury, as well as from transfers Tobe Awaka and Trey Townsend, and talented freshman forward Carter Bryant.

For the most part, the Red-Blue stats reflected that. Bradley didn’t take a 3-pointer but Lewis hit two of the three he took while Bryant went 1 for 4 from 3 after being the rare Red-Blue competitor to take part in both the dunk contest and 3-point contest before the scrimmage.

At the same time, Lloyd cautioned that the long ball wasn’t exactly going to define this bunch.

“We're never going to be a team that's going to be dependent on shooting 40 3s," he said. “We would rather shoot 30 free throws, playing that (physical) way, and let's hope we get 20 to 24 good looks at 3 from the right shooters. I think that'll give us the right mix of 3s that we're looking for.”

While Love’s 19 points led all scorers, Bradley and Lewis each had nine points for the Red team, which went initially with those three projected perimeter starters along with Veesaar and freshman center Emmanuel Stephen. Lewis hit 2 of 3 3-pointers while he and Bradley each had three assists.

Townsend, Bryant and Awaka each had nine points for the Blue team – which started four newcomers counting Dell’Orso along with backup point guard Conrad Martinez, who went scoreless with four assists in 22 minutes.

Lloyd said the Wildcats’ collective performance wasn’t any different than in the closed scrimmages they have held so far this preseason.

“As a coach, to be honest with you, it's nice to see the ball go in the basket,” Lloyd said. “You always wonder, `What if we come out and don't make a shot today, and it's 12-10 after 20 minutes?' But we made some shots and did some good things. I'm sure you're going to look back and wish you did some better things defensively. But all in all, I was happy with the guys.”

Krivas stays sidelined

UA center Motiejus Krivas watched the event in street clothes, continuing to sit out as he has since last month with an undisclosed ankle/foot issue.

Lloyd declined to specify what Krivas’ injury is, but said “I don't think it's anything crazy. I don't know all the technical terms.”

Last week, Lloyd said Krivas would be active if the Wildcats were playing games and indicated again Friday that UA continues to take precautions.

“We're gonna keep watching it and making progress,” Lloyd said. “I talked to our doctor and J-Rock (trainer Justin Kokoskie) today and they're both very optimistic that we're on the right track.”

Lewis loses crown

Lewis won last year’s Red-Blue dunk contest when he elevated over 7-footer Oumar Ballo but couldn’t manage to defend the title this time despite receiving perfect 10s in the finals from judges (and former Wildcats) Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Corey Williams.

The problem was that Bryant matched that perfect score in the finals – and then threw another 360-degree dunk down in a tiebreaking round. Bryant earned a total of 29 points with the dunk – Frye gave him only a nine – but Lewis followed him by missing all three of his attempts.

“I didn't know what to do” with the extra dunk, Bryant said. “To be completely honest with you, I'm just grateful that KJ didn’t finish his dunks. I think if he would have put that down, it probably would have been over.”

Warming up the crowd

While Lloyd and Love received loud ovations during the pregame warmups, Lloyd and hosts Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye worked to squeeze more out of the crowd of about 10,000 to open the show.

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“It was a lot louder when I was here,” Jefferson said.

Lloyd then took the mic and made a big ask of the crowd, considering the intimidating environments ahead the Wildcats will play in as members of the Big 12.

“We’ve got to show the Big 12 what’s up,” Jefferson told the crowd. “This has to be the best, toughest place to play in the country.”

Jefferson gave a similar message when speaking to Lloyd, the players and the crowd before the scrimmage.

“You are entering into a league for the first time. Everything starts over,” Jefferson said. “Do you think this group is ready? And is the crowd ready?”

Lloyd answered affirmatively.

“I got three letters for you,” Lloyd said. “L-F-G.” (Let’s F-ing Go)

Wake-up call

Still, the crowd grew quiet at times as the events played out Friday.

At one point, host Allie Clifton looked over at the UA student section.

“Why are you so quiet?” she said. “Is the Zona Zoo here?”

Honored guests

Five-star class of 2025 players Koa Peat of Gilbert Perry and Brayden Burries of Eastvale (Calif.) Roosevelt were among eight top recruiting targets the Wildcats seated in the first row behind courtside seats at the southwest end of McKale.

Others included 2026 five-star forward Cam Holmes of Goodyear Millennium, 2026 five-star guard Ikenna Alozie of Glendale Dream City, four-star 2026 guard Mason Magee of Chandler Basha, and two well-regarded 2027 players at Phoenix Sunnyslope: Forward Darius Wabbington and guard Delton Prescott.

Burries has been a close friend of Bryant's while Alozie played with Stephen last season at Dream City.

Paralympian hits game-winner

Although the crowd began filling McKale’s lower bowl during an Adaptive Athetics wheelchair game that began the evening, it was nothing Blaise Mutware hadn't seen before.

Before hitting the game-winning shot to give the Red a 27-25 victory on Friday, the Toronto product played for Canada in two Paralympic Games, including this summer in Paris.

So Friday's crowd was hardly the biggest he's played in front of.

“No no,” Mutware said. “But this was fun.”

It was for just about everyone except, maybe, UA athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois, who "coached" the Blue team.

“That shot shouldn’t have counted,” Reed-Francois said jokingly. “I think there was some tampering going on.”

While Reed-Francois took the “L" in the wheelchair game, UA donors Cole and Jeannie Davis went out winners as coaches of the Red team.

Photos: Arizona men's basketball's 2024-25 Red-Blue Showcase