Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats take the floor on Friday for one final tuneup before the regular season gets underway on Monday, Nov. 2, against the UCLA Bruins in Las Vegas.
Arizona's final exhibition game will be against Eastern Washington, led by a coach very familiar to Lloyd in Dan Monson - who was the head coach at Gonzaga and hired Lloyd, just before Mark Few took over in 1999.
The Eagles went 14-19 overall and 11-7 in the Big Sky last year, and sit at No. 151 in the country per the KenPom preseason ratings.
Final tuneup for Arizona
Arizona challenged itself against quality West Coast teams in San Francisco and San Diego State last week, and while Eastern Washington is a decent program, this game should give the Wildcats an opportunity to let the bench players shine.
Arizona is still looking for an answer at power forward while RJ Godfrey remains ineligible, and after a strong 10 point, four rebound performance on 4-6 shooting against the Aztecs, Maksim Brnovic has a real opportunity to solidify this role on Friday.
Nebraska transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius and Idaho State transfer Evan Otten are in the mix as well, but if Brnovic can hit outside shots, attack in transition, and play good defense against the Eagles, he'll earn a big role for Arizona for as long as Godfrey remains sidelined.
Friday is also an opportunity for freshman Cameron Holmes and sophomore Bryce James to shine. James has started each of the exhibition games, although his minutes haven't reflected a huge role as of yet. Meanwhile, Holmes played 37 combined minutes in the two previous exhibitions, quietly contributing on the glass without much of an impact as a scorer.
Those two are competing for depth minutes on the perimeter, and one could pull ahead of the other on Friday against the Eagles.
What's next for Wildcats
Arizona will have 10 days between Friday's exhibition and the season opener on Monday against UCLA, giving coach Lloyd an opportunity to correct mistakes from the exhibition season and prepare for another gauntlet of a non-conference slate for the defending Big 12 champions.
In November alone Arizona plays UCLA in Las Vegas (Nov. 2), Auburn on the road (Nov. 13) and UConn at home (Nov. 18). Other key matchups include St. John's on Dec. 5 at MSG, Arkansas in Phoenix on Dec. 19, and the Maui Invitational Nov. 23-25 which includes Colorado State, either Providence or VCU, and then one of BYU, Clemson, Ole Miss, or Washington in game three.
Below is a look at how to watch, stream, and listen to Arizona host Eastern Washington on Friday in McKale:
Arizona vs. Eastern Washington: TV channel, tipoff time, live stream
Date: Friday, Oct. 23
Game time: 7:00 PM MST
Where: McKale Center (Tucson, AZ)
How to listen: Wildcats Radio 1290 AM
How to stream: Hulu+Live TV
How to watch: ESPN+
Add us as a preferred source on Google