New-look Filip Borovicanin helps Arizona Wildcats to 124-77 exhibition win over Israel Select

TEL AVIV, Israel — As an Arizona freshman last season, Serbian guard Filip Borovicanin averaged just 3.8 minutes and didn’t play at all in 21 of the Wildcats’ 35 games.

So maybe it’s no surprise that, given a start and 23 full minutes Monday in Arizona’s 124-77 exhibition win over Israel Select at Hadar Yosef Arena, Borovicanin was a different guy.

The Serbian forward, brought in as a high-potential development player a year ago, had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists to help the Wildcats easily put away a collection of mostly club players from Israel. Arizona also received 24 points from senior forward Keshad Johnson and 17 from Lithuanian freshman forward Paulius Murauskas.

“Filip’s a really good player and he’s starting to come into his own a little bit,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “His confidence is starting to grow and I think this will be a great first step for him where he really got to play for us.”

Standing in a tight hallway underneath Hadar Yosef Arena’s 1,400 seats after the game, Borovicanin appeared more comfortable and confident than he did in interviews all of last season, too.

“I’d definitely say that I’ve gotten more confident this year,” Borovicanin said. “Last year when I first came here I felt really nervous.”

Lloyd experimented with his roster as he had promised, though guard KJ Lewis (foot’/ankle issue) and forward Henri Veesaar (flu-like systems) were out, and started Borovicanin alongside Alabama transfer guard Jaden Bradley, wing Pelle Larsson, center Dylan Anderson and Johnson.

A grad transfer from San Diego State, Johnson also took full advantage of his start. He drove inside for Arizona’s first two field goals, giving the Wildcats a 5-3 lead they held for good, and wound up collecting his 24 points by shooting 11 for 14 from the field, many of them dunks.

Murauskas, a 6-8 freshman who played in Lithuania’s top club league most of last season, also put on a show. He hit the first of two 3-pointers to give Arizona a 14-10 lead before dunking at the end of a sequence that wound up changing the game: Fellow Lithuanian Motiejus Krivas cut across the court for a block, then Kylan Boswell fired an ensuing fast-break pass to Murauskas that he converted into a dunk.

Murauskas wound up scoring 10 points in the first quarter alone in a game played with international ruies.

“I think guys at first were feeling pressure in the first few minutes,” Murauskas said. “But then everything started going good for us.”

The Wildcats had an easy excuse: They also could have been just tired, having spent four full days in Israel on the sort of packed itinerary that would put most travelers to bed early every night.

And, before Monday’s game even happened, the Wildcats practiced, took in an hour-long “summit” about Israel’s high-tech efforts and walked around the food stalls and other stands of the Carmel Market.

But as it was, the Wildcats had more than enough. They led 52-35 at halftime and 88-55 after the third quarter. UA shot 58.3% from the field while holding Israel Select to 33.8% shooting and crushing it on the rebounding glass, 58-30.

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“I thought our guys did a lot of good things and I also think there will simple little breakdowns there will be little teaching tools for us.”

Even Borovicanin may face some of those. As excited as Lloyd said he was about the versatile Serbian sophomore, there still apparently is plenty for him to work on.

“I’m excited about figuring out some of the mistakes he made and helping him grow from some of those,” Lloyd said. “Because this is where real growth starts to happen, and he’s ready for that.”

The Wildcats didn’t have much of a test against Israel Select, which featured mostly second or third-tier pro players. But they did have one guy to really keep an eye on. Israel Select forward Ryan Turell, who became the first Orthodox Jew to be taken in the G League draft, led all scorers with 30 points on 8-for-17 shooting.

After being named the Division III national player of the year in 2021-22, after averaging 27.1 points for Yeshiva University, Turell adjusted to a much different role last season with Detroit’s G League team, averaging 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds.

Then, on Monday, he reverted back into his old role somewhat: The star.

“You can see he’s very comfortable being a high-volume guy, which is a great skill to have, because from that comes confidence,” Lloyd said. “One thing I noticed was he’s just really opportunistic. He had a few nice individual plays but a lot of his stuff came off a loose ball he picked up and put in, things like that.”

Turell appeared to be impressed with Lloyd and the Wildcats, too. A Los Angeles native who was invited to join Israel Select for its exhibition games with Arizona and Kansas State, Turell met with Lloyd, and the two spoke for several minutes after the game.

“They have a great coach, a great organization over there,” Turell said. “They’re very talented. I think they’re a team that can very much win a national championship.”

Maybe they could. Especially if they shoot over 50%, crush their opponents on the glass and move the ball like they did Monday, recording 33 assists on 49 of their made baskets while committing only 10 turnovers.

But it was only 40 minutes of ball against a team that Turell said just started practicing together a week ago.

A lot of context is needed.

“Good first start,” Lloyd said. “I look forward to continuing to build.”

Exclusive coverage of UA hoops Mideast Tour — only in the Star and at Tucson.com/Pascoe