Arizona pulls away in physical 82-67 exhibition win over San Diego State

Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats battled a physical San Diego State squad in an exhibition showdown on Friday night, ultimately escaping the McKale Center with an 82-67 victory.

Arizona is now 2-0 in the exhibition slate, with one final game next Friday at home against Eastern Washington.

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Arizona’s brutal first half offensively allowed San Diego State to lead for nearly five full minutes, but Arizona finished the half strong and took care of business in the final 20, led by star returners Mo Krivas (17 points, 15 rebounds) and Ivan Kharchenkov (13 points, 12 rebounds).

It was quite a fight from the Aztecs. Even when it looked like Arizona had this game in the bag, San Diego State did not go quietly. A rapid fire 8-0 run in under two minutes turned a 19 point lead into 11, forcing Lloyd to take a timeout with 5:56 left in the game. Then Arizona had an ugly 1-11 stretch in the final few minutes before a Caleb Holt floater with 1:20 to go gave the Wildcats a 79-63 lead.

Below is a look at three key takeaways for Arizona after their second exhibition win of the week:

1. Maksim Brnovic has real upside

As long as RJ Godfrey remains ineligible, Arizona will have to find help at the power forward position. Lithuanian freshman Maksim Brnovic has long been considered the likely beneficiary, and he looked every bit the part on Friday against the Aztecs.

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In 19 minutes Brnovic finished with 10 points on 4-6 shooting, including 2-3 from three, while snatching four rebounds. He had a steal and a two handed transition dunk in the first half, and the outside shooting really opened up the lane for Krivas, Kharchenkov, and the rest of the Wildcats offense.

The 6’10 big man is still quite raw, and will need to work on avoiding fouls so he can stay on the floor, but the upside is very apparent – and there’s a good chance he’s asked to contribute heavily without Godfrey in the mix.

2. Arizona was plenty willing to shoot from three

Feb 24, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats…

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Publish date : 2026-10-17 04:11:00

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