Arizona big man Motiejus Krivas out for season, will undergo foot surgery

Arizona men’s basketball’s Motiejus Krivas will have surgery on a foot injury this week and miss the rest of the season, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla said during the Wildcats’ 72-67 win over Cincinnati on Saturday.

The 7-foot-2 big man has not played since a Dec. 7 win over Southern Utah, in which he had 10 points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

Henri Veesaar, who has filled in for Krivas, stuffed the stat sheet in Saturday’s win with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks with some high effort late to survive the Bearcats, who had battled back to tie it late after they were down 19.

“I don’t think (Krivas is) coming back this year. I mean, it doesn’t look like it,” head coach Tommy Lloyd said after the Wildcats’ 90-81 win over TCU to start Big 12 play on Monday.

The Lithuanian entered the season with considerable NBA draft buzz, but his production fell below expectations to begin the season, averaging 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game with six blocks in eight games.

“He’s a great person and a great player, and he’s an important part of our program going forward,” Lloyd said.

Henri Veesaar slides in to Motiejus Krivas’ minutes for Arizona

Arizona turned to another 7-foot European to replace Krivas’ minutes, with Estonia’s Veesaar putting forth perhaps his best game as a college player in the win over TCU.

“We’re gonna be able to roll with Henri, and he’s gonna get probably a little more opportunity,” Lloyd said of the 15-point, six-rebound, four-assist night. “For him to kick off his Big 12 career the way he did tonight was a great sign.”

The 15 points was one away from matching a career high, and the four assists were a career best before he matched the number on Saturday. He added a block over the 18 minutes.

His minutes have jumped up from 13 per game over the season’s first eight contests to 20.4 per game over the previous five since Dec. 7.

“Henri is somebody that I believe in a lot and whose development has taken a while, which is normal,” Lloyd said. “It’s not a slight to Henri by any stretch. He’s in his third year. He’s 7 feet tall, he had a thin frame. They’re starting to come together, his shooting, his decision-making, his balance, his strength is all kind of coming together at the right time. But, you know, you need some game experience.

“Henri has shot the ball really well in workouts and in practice, and I don’t know what his 3-point shooting was going into the game, but it wasn’t an indicator of that. So there’s this thing called game confidence (that he’s getting).”