Three Players to Watch for Arizona Against Florida

The wait is finally over, the college basketball season is here with No. 13 Arizona tipping off its season against No. 3 Florida in Las Vegas on Monday night at 4 p.m. (MST) on TNT. This marks the fifth season under head coach Tommy Lloyd, who will be looking to get over the Sweet Sixteen hump that has plagued the Wildcats.

Lloyd has been one of the most successful up-and-coming coaches in college basketball going 112-33 over the course of the last four seasons making the NCAA Tournament each season and leading the program to three Sweet Sixteen appearances.

This will be another tough test for Arizona in the non-conference history with Lloyd at the helm. The Wildcats have put together one of the hardest non-conference slate of games once against Florida, UCLA, UConn, Auburn, Alabama and San Diego State.

Mar 23, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) rebounds the ball against Oregon Ducks center Nate Bittle (32) in the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

This past season, Lloyd and his program entered a new era of Arizona basketball with the Wildcats leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12 Conference. In UA’s first season in a new conference, the team went 24-13 while finishing third in the conference standings.

In the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats made it to the conference title game and fell 72-64 to Houston, which would go on to play for the National Title.

Following the end to the season, Arizona lost star guard Caleb Love to graduation and forward Carter Bryant to the NBA Draft where he went No. 14 overall to the San Antonio Spurs.

Plus, Arizona saw two key players in KJ Lewis and Henri Veesaar leave the program and transfer to Power 4 programs.

Despite that, Arizona will be fully loaded again with four key returners in Jaden Badley, Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso and Motiejus Krivas. Plus, Lloyd and his staff signed the No. 2 recruiting class according to 24/7 Sports.

Although Florida is the defending national champs, the Gators saw key players Walter Clayton, Will Richard and Alijah Martin graduate, which were the leaders in the backcourt for coach Todd Golden.

Apr 7, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden is interviewed after winning the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The two coaches are very familiar with each other with Golden and Lloyd’s history in the West Coast Conference at San Francisco and Gonzaga.

While Lloyd was the top assistant for the Bulldogs, Golden worked his way up from assistant to head coach of the Dons from 2016 to 2022 before leaving for Florida.

This is not only a showdown of two Preseason AP Poll Top 25 teams but a clash of heavy weight squads that represent the two best conferences in college basketball, the Big 12 and SEC, which had six teams a piece in the rankings.

As we get closer to tip-off with the game one day away, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI put together our three Arizona players to watch for the showdown in Las Vegas.

Three Players to Watch

Jaden Bradley

Entering his third season with the program, point guard Jaden Bradley will have a larger role as the main ball handler with Caleb Love graduating. Bradley will be key in getting the Wildcats’ offense in the right sets and putting guys in position to succeed.

Although he was left off the All-Conference Preseason Team, Bradley will be one of the better point guards in the Big 12 this season and had an impressive 3.7 apg rate while turning the ball over 1.8 times per game.

Brayden Burries

A lot of talk has been surrounding freshman forward Koa Peat and deservedly so. However guard Bryaden Burries has been getting overlooked nationally in comparison to Peat, yet both were five-star recruits.

Burries was able to show off his scoring ability in both games and looks like he could be the Wildcats No. 1 scoring option. Although he has a lot of developing to do, it is realistic to think that he could be one of the top NBA Draft picks following his freshman season.

Motiejus Krivas

Last season, Arizona lost big man Motiejus Krivas to an injury sustained in practice, which led to a season-ending injury. He had to watch the team go through ups and downs on its way to the Big 12 Title game in the conference tournament and then lose in the Sweet Sixteen.

Dec 7, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Southern Utah Thunderbirds forward Jamari Sibley (14) and center Malik Lamin (32) battle for the rebound with Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (14) during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

During that time and the offseason, Krivas has been working hard to get back to full strength and get ready for the upcoming season.

Against Saint Mary’s, Krivas recorded a double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds. Now, he will be going up against a Florida team that has a lot of talent in the frontcourt.

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