Arizona’s first real tune-up of the preseason comes Tuesday night, and even if it’s not the regular season yet, it carries the feel of something much closer to the real thing.
San Francisco is the first of three Division I opponents on Arizona’s exhibition schedule, with the Dons coming to ALKEME Arena at McKale Center for a 7 p.m. PT tip.
The game will air on ESPN+. The Wildcats follow with San Diego State on Friday and Eastern Washington on Oct. 23, with those games also set for 7 p.m.
PT and on ESPN+.
This year’s setup is a clear sign of how quickly the preseason landscape has changed. Last season was the first year the NCAA allowed Division I teams to face other Division I opponents in exhibitions, and Arizona took part with a win over Saint Mary’s.
The other exhibition was against NAIA school Embry-Riddle, the type of preseason matchup the Wildcats used to lean on. Now teams can play up to three exhibitions against D-I opponents, and Arizona has gone all in.
“These are tough, competitive games,” UA assistant coach Jack Murphy said. “I mean, if the NCAA Tournament were at 76 teams the last few years I think San Francisco probably is in it. We already know San Diego State is a perennial NCAA Tournament team, and Eastern Washington is one of the more talented teams in the Big Sky.
“I think that it’s a great challenge for our guys early on. It’s exciting. It gives us an opportunity to play against good teams in preparation for our opener in November.”
The biggest thing to keep an eye on is the rotation, and how close Arizona is to a full deck. When the Wildcats played three games in Lithuania in August, they used two different starting lineups, each time simply swapping Bryce James and Cameron Holmes at one of the guard spots. But Arizona wasn’t working with everyone available then, whether because of injuries or eligibility issues.
That could still be the case Tuesday. Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey remains ineligible while his case against the NCAA in Georgia moves forward. Idaho State transfer Evan Otten and freshman Endurance Aiyamenkhue both missed the Red-Blue Showcase with minor injuries.
If things stay as expected, Arizona’s starting five should feature Holmes, freshman Caleb Holt and North Carolina transfer Derek Dixon in the backcourt, with Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas up front. James and Washington transfer JJ Mandaquit, who did not play in Lithuania, are the first guards off the bench, while Nebraska transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius and freshman Maksim Brnovic should be the initial frontcourt subs.
San Francisco, meanwhile, arrives with a roster that looks almost nothing like the one from a year ago. The Dons went 17-16 last season and finished in the middle of the West Coast Conference, but they were far more established in the prior three years, when they won 20 or more games each season under coach Chris Gerlufsen, who took over in 2022 after Todd Golden left for Florida.
This version of USF is built almost entirely from scratch. Only two players are back from last season, and one of them sat out and took a medical redshirt. The most familiar holdover is forward Ndewedo Newbury, a starter in 2023-24 and 2024-25 who shoots 38.1 percent from 3 for his career.
The rest of the Dons’ roster is a blend of youth and newcomers. They have 11 freshmen and four transfers, including former St.
Thomas wing Ben Oosterbaan, who put up 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season as a sophomore. San Francisco also has two players taller than 6-foot-9: Slovenian freshman Ziga Daneu, listed at 6-11, and 7-foot Gonzaga transfer Ismaila Diagne.
That mix is part of what makes this opener more complicated than a normal exhibition. Arizona has film from its games in Lithuania and the Red-Blue Showcase, but scouting San Francisco comes with a little more uncertainty than usual.
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