Arizona Wildcats top Lithuania senior national team to end summer tour

Arizona ended its summer tour on a high note by beating the Lithuania senior national team 88-74 to wrap up the Wildcats’ Lithuanian trip.

Once again, Ivan Kharchenkov was the Wildcats’ best player and showed why many are projecting him to be a lottery pick in next summer’s NBA draft.

Ivan Kharchenkov was HYPED after this layup 😳 pic.twitter.com/bwEuYg36Ct

— Kevin Thomas (@KevoPosts) August 22, 2026

The 6-foot-7 sophomore, known for being Arizona’s best perimeter defender last season, added to his offensive bag over the offseason and was able to put it on display during the series of three exhibition games this week. His footwork is even better, and he displayed a willingness to take step back 3-pointers and post players up in Saturday’s win.

let Ivan cook 👨‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/yauuAxSjmD

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) August 22, 2026

Kharchenkov finished with 30 points, on 11 of 20 (50%) shooting and shot 3 of 8 (37.5%) from beyond the arc. He added five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.

Freshman Caleb Holt, the No. 2 recruit in the nation, struggled to find his shot and finish at the rim — a common theme for him throughout the trip — but was able to positively affect the game in other ways, mainly by way of his court vision, defense and rebounding.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard shot 3 of 11 (27.3%) but contributed eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Collectively, Arizona looked much better defensively than in Wednesday’s exhibition and shot the 3-pointer at a much better clip. Following Wednesday’s 3 of 18 (16%) showing from deep, the Wildcats shot 8 of 20 (40%) Saturday, with Motiejus Krivas even getting in on the action.

is there anything more romantic than August basketball in Lithuania?

Motiejus Krivas drains the three in his home country against his national team. pic.twitter.com/yGBmVhGkuC

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) August 22, 2026

Krivas was limited to 22 minutes as he continues his ramp up after having his foot scoped earlier this offseason. The 7-foot-2 Lithuanian tallied 15 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two assists.

In addition to Krivas, the other Arizona bigs played well. Playing in front of friends and family in his hometown of Alytus, Wildcats forward Ugnius Jarusevicius added 14 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes, and Evan Otten impressed defensively in the eight minutes he received.

For the second straight game, Arizona started Bryce James, along with Derek Dixon, Holt, Kharchenkov and Krivas.

James was not much of a factor and showed a lack of quickness and aggression. It is unlikely he will play more than spot-minutes for the Wildcats this season.

He finished with five points on 2 of 3 (66.7%) shooting to go along with two rebounds in 12 minutes.

New signee RJ Godfrey was suspended for Saturday’s game, as he continues serving a four-game suspension tied to his eligibility. The Wildcats were also without Montenegrin freshman Maksim Brnović for the second straight game after he took a hard fall in the opening game of the trip and injured his chin.

The Wildcats remained without Washington transfer JJ Mandaquit (foot) and Mabil Mawut (visa issue).

Former Arizona standout Azuolas Tubelis did not play against the Wildcats in Saturday’s exhibition game either after tweaking his ankle on Thursday in an exhibition game vs. Estonia.

Lithuania also played without NBA standouts Domantas Sabonis, Jonas Valanciunas, Matas Buzelis and Kasparas Jakucionis. Sabonis was previously recruited and coached by Tommy Lloyd during his time as an assistant at Gonzaga.

What’s next for Arizona men’s basketball?

Next up for Arizona men’s basketball is the annual Red-Blue Showcase (intrasquad scrimmage) on Sept. 26 at 2:30 p.m.

The Wildcats will then play three exhibition games against Division I opponents at McKale Center before opening their nonconference slate.

Arizona will officially begin the season against longstanding rival UCLA in Las Vegas on Nov. 2 as part of the Hall of Fame Series.

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