Arizona’s final tune-up before the games count looked every bit like a team ready to turn the page. The Wildcats controlled Friday’s exhibition from the opening tip and coasted past Eastern Washington, 85-54, at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena.
Motiejus Krivas set the tone by winning the tip, and Arizona’s defense immediately started squeezing the life out of the Eagles. Eastern Washington had to burn clock on consecutive possessions, a clear sign early that the Wildcats were dictating the rhythm.
Caleb Holt got the offense rolling two minutes into the first half with a three that had the crowd buzzing, and Arizona’s tight man-to-man look made it tough for EWU to find clean driving lanes or get into the paint. The pressure kept piling up. By the 12-minute mark, the Wildcats had already moved into double figures on the scoreboard, and a sequence off Ugnius Jarusevicius’s missed free throw helped push the lead to 15 when JJ Mandaquit collected the rebound kick-out and knocked down a three.
The Eagles kept running into traffic. Arizona forced air balls, turnovers and rushed possessions, and after Andrew Cook coughed it up, Derek Dixon took the ball up the floor and buried a three to add to the cushion.
Holt then took over late in the half. With about five minutes left, he hit his second three of the night, followed it with a layup, then jumped a Cook inbound and finished again on the other end.
Eastern Washington had to call timeout just to slow the avalanche. Holt finished the half with 15 points and went 3-for-4 from deep.
Krivas was just as efficient in his own lane, going 2-for-2 at the line and closing the first half with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists. Arizona went into the break up 50-26.
The Wildcats didn’t let up after halftime. Dixon opened the second half with another three, and Bryce James followed with his first of the game as Arizona kept the pressure on from the perimeter.
Holt kept doing damage, too. He scored his first two points of the second half on a floater through the middle of the lane, stretching the lead to 29 points.
With 10 minutes left, both teams had 12 turnovers, but Arizona was far more ruthless about turning mistakes into points. Eastern Washington couldn’t do the same with the Wildcats’ miscues.
One of the slicker plays of the night came from Cameron Holmes, who slipped a behind-the-back pass in the key to Mandaquit for two points. That marked Holmes’s third assist of the game.
When it was over, Arizona had turned an exhibition into a runaway, finishing with an 85-54 win.
The preseason is done now, and the Wildcats will head to Las Vegas, Nevada, for their first official game of the season against UCLA at T-Mobile Arena on Monday, November 2, 2026, at 8:00 PM.
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