Krivas missed most of the 2024-25 season with a foot/ankle injury but is expected to be at full strength for the start of the regular season. After Wednesday’s game, Lloyd said Krivas had only rejoined the Wildcats for practices recently.
“Mo’s had a good summer. He’s obviously recovering from a small injury,” Lloyd said. “I think he’s looking pretty close to 100% to me. But we’re preparing for a long season and Mo is going to be a really important part of the season.”
Without much help from their projected post rotation Wednesday, the Wildcats were dominated from all levels offensively and on the glass by the locals.
Lithuania shot 49.2% from the field while making 11 of 22 3-pointers, went to the free throw line seven more times than Arizona did and outrebounded them 49-31, scoring 14 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds. Lithuania made 22 of 33 free throws while UA was 17 for 28 from the line.
“Their experience as basketball players showed and it’s a great learning experience for us,” Lloyd said. “I knew today was going to be a difficult game for us. It didn’t matter if it was the A team or the B team. I knew it was going to be tough and these players have a lot to prove.”
Krivas, who grew up playing within the Lithuanian federation and for the prestigious Zalgiris club in Kaunas, noted that the “B” team players have mostly been playing professionally around the country in Lithuania’s first and second leagues.
“I feel like we knew what was coming,” he said, “but all of the players didn’t know fully what was coming.”
While the Arizona-Ukraine game was not well attended, the Wildcats’ game Wednesday against the Lithuanian B team attracted a standing-room-only crowd of about 2,500 inside the compact Jonava Sports Arena, located about a half-hour away from the Wildcats’ hotel in Kaunas.