Arizona will host Division II Embry-Riddle (Prescott) on October 27 and perennial NCAA Tournament team St. Mary's on October 18 in its two exhibition games announced on Monday. St. Mary's has four consecutive appearances and has won the last three West Coast Conference regular season titles.
Arizona has won five of its seven games against St. Mary's. St. Mary's won two of the first three games against Arizona from 1949 through 1951. Arizona has won the last four games against St. Mary's from 2000 through 2017. The exhibition games this month will not count in the official series between Arizona and St. Mary's
The most recent game was a 69-60 Arizona win over St. Mary's in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. St. Mary's has passed Gonzaga as the dominant team in the WCC in the past three seasons. Former Arizona forward Paulius Murauskas is the leading returning scorer and rebounder for St. Mary's.
Murauskas averaged 12.1 points per game and 7.7 rebounds while starting all 35 games for St. Mary's in 2024-25. Murauskas is the only returning starter for St. Mary's in 2025-26. St. Mary's brought in two transfers for 2025-26 and has three Australians on its 2025-26 roster.
Mark your calendars 📆 pic.twitter.com/Bs56MLLHIr
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) September 15, 2025
The game against St. Mary's will allow Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd to have the Wildcats compete against a team with contrasting styles. St. Mary's finished fifth nationally in 2024-25 allowing 61.1 PPG and 357th with 65.7 possessions per game.
Embry-Riddle won 13 games and lost 15 in 2024-25. The Eagles averaged 75.3 PPG and allowed 78.3. Noah Gifft, who led Embry-Riddle, averaging 16.3 PPG and 3.8 rebounds in 2024-25, returns for the Eagles for the 2025-26 season.
Arizona will open the season on November 3 against defending national champion Florida in Las Vegas on TNT with the game time to be announced. The game against Florida begins a gauntlet non-conference schedule for Arizona in 2025.