Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats played a handful of games in Lithuania this summer - and they took the floor in late September for the annual Red-Blue Showcase - but this Tuesday will be the first game against an opponent at McKale in 225 days as the college basketball season draws near.
The first of Arizona's three exhibition games - all at home - will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 13, when Chris Gerlufsen and the San Francisco Dons of the West Coast Conference come to town.
Arizona and San Francisco have not played a regular-season game against each other since 1972, although coach Lloyd has plenty of familiarity with the Dons thanks to his 20-year tenure under Mark Few at Gonzaga.
Plus, USF assistant coach Kyle Bankhead played for Gonzaga while Lloyd was there from 2000 to 2004, sparking another connection between these two programs.
Meet the Dons
USF has long been among the most successful non-Gonzaga programs in the West Coast Conference, making the NCAA Tournament in 2022 under then-head coach Todd Golden. Prior to Golden - who won a championship at Florida in 2023-24 - San Francisco was coached by Kyle Smith, who is now at Stanford.
Now the program is led by Chris Gerlufsen, who won 20+ games in each of his first three seasons before injuries ravaged the Dons last year, resulting in a 17-16 campaign and a disappointing 8-10 finish in league play.
USF comes into 2026-27 ranked No. 163 at KenPom - 7th in the WCC - with a very new-look roster that includes Gonzaga transfer center Ismaila Diagne, St. Thomas transfer wing Ben Oosterbaan, Auburn transfer guard Abdul Bashir, and returning forward Ndewedo Newbury.
Gerlufsen is an analytics-driven coach and San Francisco has a new roster, which should make this an interesting matchup for coach Lloyd - although Arizona's talent should lead to a comfortable victory regardless.
Arizona will host three teams in exhibition games this season: San Francisco on Oct. 13, San Diego State on Friday, Oct. 16, and Eastern Washington and Lloyd's former boss Dan Monson on Friday, Oct. 23.
For Arizona, Idaho State transfer forward Evan Otten is expected to play after missing the Red-Blue Showcase, while international freshman Endi Aiyamenkhue will sit out with a lower body injury.
Below is a look at how to watch, stream, and listen to Arizona host San Francisco on Tuesday in McKale:
Arizona vs. San Francisco: TV channel, tipoff time, live stream
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13
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+
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