Arizona Basketball Dominates San Francisco 93-69 in Exhibition Opener

The Arizona men's basketball team opened its schedule with a dominant 93-69 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the McKale Center at ALKEME Arena in Tucson, Arizona, according to University of Arizona Athletics and Arizona Desert Swarm.

Ten different players scored for the Wildcats in a contest that allowed head coach Tommy Lloyd to test experimental lineups and rotations.

Who led the scoring for Arizona?

Motiejus Krivas paced the Wildcats with 20 points, picking up where he left off last season after playing limited minutes in his Lithuanian homeland in August due to a back injury, as reported by Tucson.com. Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points, while freshman Caleb Holt tallied 17 points in his collegiate debut. Derek Dixon chipped in 10 points in his first game as a Wildcat.

How did injuries impact the starting lineup?

Arizona played without RJ Godfrey and Endi Aiyamenkhue, forcing coach Tommy Lloyd to deploy a smaller starting lineup. The revised rotation featured Ivan Kharchenkov at power forward alongside Cam Holmes and Bryce James on the wings, according to Tucson.com reporting.

Following a summer tour in Lithuania—where the Wildcats went 2-1, losing 99-88 to a Lithuania "B" Team on August 19, defeating the Ukraine Senior National Team 107-85 on August 20, and beating the Lithuania Senior National Team 88-74 on August 22—alongside an annual Red-Blue Showcase on September 26, 2026, Lloyd stated that the team must still "start over."

What did the opposing coach say about the matchup?

San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen called himself "crazy" for agreeing to play Arizona in its first exhibition game of the season during his postgame press conference, while Bleacher Report noted that Gerlufsen also praised the physicality of the Wildcats.

In preseason national rankings, ESPN slots Arizona at No. 4, while Lindy's and Blue Ribbon both rank the Wildcats at No. 5 nationally.

When is Arizona playing next?

The Wildcats continue their exhibition schedule at the McKale Center at 7:00 PM MST against San Diego State on October 16, 2026, followed by a matchup against Eastern Washington on October 23, 2026. Freshman Caleb Holt is scheduled to join veterans Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov to represent Arizona at the Big 12 men's basketball media days in Kansas City. The regular season officially opens on November 2, 2026, against UCLA at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series.