“Thank you, Lithuania and thank you, Lithuanian basketball” – that was Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd’s lasting message for those in Lithuania and beyond after UA defeated Lithuania’s A/B Team 88-74.
That message could have been from Arizona fans from all over as well as they – or many – sat through six hours of basketball over the last few days to get a glimpse of what’s ahead for Arizona, a team talented enough to do very well this season. Maybe, just maybe, another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
But realistically, when was the last time you heard they weren’t talented enough to do well in any season over the last three-plus decades? Once, maybe twice?
That’s not the case this upcoming year – despite what you say in game one vs. Lithuania’s B team earlier in the week.
The Wildcats lost to the Lithuanian B team 99-88 on Wednesday. Then came back to beat Team Ukraine’s 07-85 on Thursday.
Now, Arizona is leaving 2-1 (out of three games) and eager to get back home after a nearly 10-day trip of bonding and basketball.
“We’re really grateful for the amazing time we’ve had here,” Lloyd told reporters in Lithuania.
He quickly added the team is ready to come home, because “it’s been a long summer.”
Unlike it’s first meeting with Lithuania’s B team, Saturday, Arizona played evenly with Team Lithuania throughout the first half and then took control in the third quarter to ease into the final quarter with a double-digit lead and eventual the final score.
“The first game we played bad, and I’ll say this: I don’t care if you call that team the B team or whatever,” he said. “That team played incredibly hard. They were focused. They had great spirit and they got a lead on us and kind of made us question ourselves. It was our first game, but there’s no excuses.”
But Arizona redeemed itself the last two games. It played with more purpose and more poise.
And again – last year’s returners turned this year’s centerpieces – Mo Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov led the way. Kharchenkov better his previous two games of 25 and 24 points with 30 points on Saturday, looking emotional on a three-point play in the second half.
Krivas finished with 15 points in 22 minutes. He played limited minutes in his trip back home but looked like the best big man in the Big 12 Conference, maybe in the country (as Sports Illustrated projected recently).
Also making his trip back home was Ugnius Jarusevicius, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. Jarusevicius transferred in from Nebraska, but played only one game last season due to a back injury.
“He’s come a long way,” Lloyd said. “We’ve been together for a couple months now. He had to come and recover from a back injury last year, which is always dangerous. But I’ll tell you what, he’s worked every day. He hasn’t missed a training (session). He hasn’t missed a therapy session, a weightlifting session, and you’re seeing great progress. And I just told him when we came in here that I’m proud of him because to be able to come and do this back home maybe people back here have forgotten about him a little bit, and maybe he needed to rebuild his confidence to come back here and do it is pretty special. And and and hopefully, everyone understands is going to be a professional basketball player from Lithuania for many, many years to come.”
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