Jaden Bradley leads scorers in Arizona exhibition win vs. Saint Mary’s, freshmen off on right foot

There’s only so much a coach can take from an exhibition, but Tommy Lloyd had something to smile about after a Jaden Bradley-led Arizona men’s basketball team defeated Saint Mary’s 81-68 on Saturday at McKale Center.

In front of an announced Tucson crowd of 13,328, the Wildcats came out with what looks to be at least an early version of their starting five, with Bradley co-starring alongside Anthony Dell’Orso, Motiejus Krivas and freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat.

Thirteen different players saw action for Lloyd, as he said in a press conference on Thursday that he was going to strike a balance between properly preparing potential starters for the season opener against No. 3 Florida and giving playing time to as many as possible.

“It was an honor to compete against (Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett), and I told our guys if you’re able to lead a team like that for 40 minutes, kind of weather a few runs, that’s a good place to start,” Lloyd said postgame.

Bradley led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting that included 2 of 2 from 3 and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. The senior guard also added four assists and didn’t commit a turnover in 31 minutes.

“Taking what the defense is giving me, probably gonna go under the ball screens, (defense) trying to keep me out the paint, so my teammates believe in me,” Bradley said postgame. “Just trusting my work I’m putting in.”

JB with a fast break! 🔥 Cats lead 63-55 with 7 minutes left to play. pic.twitter.com/hUBDIJ7fIW

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) October 18, 2025

Bradley is coming off a 2024-25 campaign in which he averaged the fourth-most minutes in the Big 12 (34.1), 12.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

While the 3-point specialist in Dell’Orso was a consistent starter last season, center Krivas returned to competition for the first time since Dec. 7, 2024 against Southern Utah, having dealt with a foot injury. He authored a double-double against the visiting Gaels, as he put up 11 points, 17 rebounds (three offensive boards) and had one turnover.

Lloyd said it “wasn’t ideal” for Krivas to be on the court for 32 minutes with Tobe Awaka “banged up,” but he was pleased with how the 7-foot-2 junior held up.

As for the performances of highly-touted recruits in Burries and Peat, both players shot 5 of 7 from the field for 10 points and neither sunk a free throw — Burries was 0 for 3 and Peat 0 for 2.

Peat showed off his ball-handling ability and shooter’s touch late in the first half with Arizona leading 33-28. In a slow-developing play, Krivas got him the ball at the top of the key with nine seconds on the shot clock and he used a spin move to get space on a fade before getting a friendly roll off the back of the rim.

Koa Peat puts it up for 2! Cats lead at halftime 37-30! pic.twitter.com/5FOVexs3qO

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) October 18, 2025

Burries saw 25 minutes of action while Peat saw 23.

Germany’s Ivan Kharchenkov was also among the freshmen that got plenty of run. The 6-foot-7 forward was on the court for 23 minutes and scored nine points on 4 of 7 shooting.

Kharchenkov dished out two assists but one thing was missing: a single rebound.

That fact was eye-opening to Lloyd, but he was welcome to address that now before the season starts.

“Our guys are good players and they were good prospects, and maybe they didn’t have to do some of the dirty work,” Lloyd said. “Because I’m looking at some of these rebounding numbers, and it’s just not gonna cut it.”

Arizona had 44 points in the paint but just six second-chance points off of its six offensive boards.

Bryce James, son of LeBron James, missed his lone shot attempt in two minutes while top-40 recruit Dwayne Aristode was 0 for 3 shooting with an assist and rebound in 20 minutes.

Defensively, the Wildcats held the Gaels, a perennial powerhouse in the West Coast Conference, to 39.3% shooting (24 of 61) and forced 12 turnovers.

The Wildcats will play their second and final exhibition game in Tucson against NAIA Embry-Riddle on Oct. 27. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MST and the action can be seen on ESPN+.

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