Preview: Arizona vs. Eastern Washington (exhibition)

TUCSON, Ariz. - On Friday night, the Arizona men's basketball team will wrap-up the exhibition season by taking on Eastern Washington starting at 7:00 p.m. MST inside McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. The Wildcats have won the previous two exhibition games this season, defeating San Francisco and San Diego State last week.

Tickets can be purchased online at ArizonaWildcats.com/MBK.

In the Rankings

The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 poll earlier this week and Arizona checked in at No. 5 in the country and the top team in the Big 12 Conference. It is the highest preseason ranking for Arizona in six seasons under head coach Tommy Lloyd.

The last time Arizona was ranked in the top five of the AP Preseason poll was at the start of the 2017-18 season, when they started at No. 3.

Arizona in the AP Preseason Poll under Tommy Lloyd
2021-22: Receiving votes
2022-23: No. 17
2023-24: No. 12
2024-25: No. 10
2025-26: No. 13

About the Eagles

The Eagles are led by head coach Dan Monson, who was previously the head coach at Long Beach State, Minnesota and Gonzaga. He is in his 29th season as a head coach and has 469 wins to his credit. This year's squad was picked to finish third in the Big Sky Conference with Andrew Cook and Alton Hamilton IV were also named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

Big 12 Preseason Awards
The Big 12 announced its preseason honors as voted on by the conference coaches, and preseason All-American Motiejus Krivas was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year. He was joined on the preseason first team all-conference by sophomore Ivan Kharchenkov.

Recapping the First Exhibition Game
Arizona used a steady defensive effort in the second half on Tuesday to pull away and defeat San Francisco, 93-69. Krivas led Arizona with 20 points and six rebounds while Kharchenkov added 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Caleb Holt chipped in 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Arizona Overcomes Cold Shooting to Top San Diego State in Second Exhibition Game
In the second exhibition game for Arizona, the Wildcats shot just 34% from the floor against San Diego State but used a +11 advantage on the boards and committed only seven turnovers to come away with the 82-67 win over the Aztecs. Krivas paced Arizona with 17 points and 15 rebounds while Kharchenkov added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Arizona At A Glance

Coming off a 36-3 record last year and the program's first appearance in the Final Four in 25 years, Arizona has one again reloaded with two high-profile returners in addition to a number of strong pieces joining the program as freshmen and transfers.

Senior post player Motiejus Krivas is a preseason All-American candidate and will be a focal point for Arizona at both ends of the court. He is joined by high-energy wing Ivan Kharchenkov, who led the Wildcats in scoring during the three exhibition games in Lithuania.

Add in the additions of Derek Dixon (North Carolina), JJ Mandaquit (Washington) and Ugnius Jarusevicius (Nebraska) along with McDonald's All-American Caleb Holt, Cameron Holmes and Maksim Brnovic and it is easy to see why Wildcat fans should be excited about the 2026-27 season.

Another transfer, RJ Godfrey (Clemson), joined the program over the summer but is currently not eligible for competition.

Series History vs. Eastern Washington
While this game does not count towards the all-time series, Arizona leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington by a 2-0 margin. The Wildcats won the first meeting in 2004, 79-45, and then topped the Eagles again in 2020, 70-67.

Looking Ahead

Arizona will open the regular season against UCLA in Las Vegas on Nov. 2 as part of the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas.

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Players Mentioned

Maksim Brnovic

Derek Dixon

RJ Godfrey

Cameron Holmes

Caleb Holt

Ugnius Jarusevicius

Ivan Kharchenkov

Motiejus Krivas

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