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Publicly, Paulius Murauskas was a man of few words during his lone season with the Arizona Wildcats, and he may still be that when he returns with Saint Mary’s for an exhibition game Saturday at McKale Center.

But thoughts? That’s probably another story.

“I’m sure he’s excited to play against us, and wants to give it to us a little bit,� UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “As he should.�

Still, while multiple attempts to reach Murauskas were unsuccessful this week, this does not necessarily appear to be a classic revenge story.

Murauskas left the Wildcats after playing sparingly as a freshman in 2023-24, stuck behind current NBA players Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson, and probably knew playing time still could be a challenge last season with NBA-bound Carter Bryant and others coming in.

So he took off for the Bay Area and became the WCC’s Newcomer of the Year, taking advantage of regular playing time while helping Saint Mary’s run away with the WCC regular season title and a 29-6 season.

Arizona, meanwhile, mixed in Bryant, transfers Trey Townsend and Tobe Awaka, plus emerging sophomore Henri Veesaar into its post rotation last season, unburdened by the question of where to best squeeze in Murauskas, the 6-8 Lithuanian forward who fell somewhere awkwardly into the gap between a small and power forward in Lloyd’s system.

Everybody won, it seemed.

“You know, sometimes you come to a place and it doesn’t work out for whatever reason,� Lloyd said. “But I will say this: Mura was nothing but a class act when he was here. He’d come with the intention of playing, and I had hoped he would play. It just didn’t work out. It just didn’t work out. Ultimately, I’m responsible for that, so I’m happy that he’s found his footing.�

Jumping from an average of 5.0 minutes over 23 games with the Wildcats in 2023-24 to 26.9 minutes with Saint Mary’s last season, Murauskas averaged 12.1 points and 7.7 rebounds a game for the Gaels.

But statistics aren’t the only evidence. He also shared some feelings with a friend and former teammate, Arizona center Motiejus Krivas.

The two Lithuanians kept in touch last season and, when taking a break back in their home country last summer, even went fishing together at a lake.

“He’s doing great,� Krivas said. “He’s excited for season. He’s excited to come here to play. So it’s going great.�

Only 17 days lapsed between Murauskas’ entrance into the transfer portal and his move to Saint Mary’s in April 2024, suggesting the decision wasn’t tough. While Murauskas had played with and against Krivas since age 16, in Lithuanian clubs and for the country’s national team program, he was also a friend of former Saint Mary’s standout guard Augustus Marciulionis.

In addition, another Lithuanian, former UA guard Tautvilas Tubelis, also was joining the Gaels as a graduate assistant last season and will also return to McKale Center on Saturday.

“We weren’t chasing him, but he knew Augustus, so he was very intrigued about our deal,� Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said of Murauskas. “He came over on a visit. Of course, I called Tommy, and he was super straight up with me. He told me he thought Paulius would be a really good player.�

As it turned out, Saint Mary’s may have needed Murauskas as much as Murauskas needed Saint Mary’s. The Gaels had a notable rim protector in Mitchell Saxen, plus accomplished guards in Marchilionis, Luke Barrett and Jordan Ross — but a notable hole at power forward.

A power forward role that fit Murausakas’ skill set, too. Murauskas is built like a power forward but moves and shoots like a big wing, a stretch four of sorts, something that flowed smoothly into the Gaels’ offense last season.

“I think how we play our four-man was very beneficial to him, and we got him in,� Bennett said. “You’ve gotta get minutes, and he was not getting minutes at Arizona, understandably so because they had two pros at the four.

“He knew he needed to go someplace where he was getting good minutes, where he could play through his mistakes and get better. I think we offered that. I think Tommy knew that would be a good fit for him.�

Lloyd did, the way he explained it Thursday.

So, no matter if Murauskas plays well again Saturday, this time making it difficult for the Wildcats and Lloyd, hard feelings may be minimal on either side.

“I’m really happy for him,� Lloyd said. “I know he had a lot of other opportunities, maybe playing in some bigger conferences or for bigger (team) names, but he made a really mature decision. He’s playing in a great program and I don’t think he could have made a better basketball decision than the one he made.�

Decisions to make

UA returns three starters in center Tobe Awaka, wing Anthony Dell’Orso and guard Jaden Bradley — and is widely expected to plug in power forward Koa Peat and guard Bryden Burries into its starting lineup — but Lloyd said he hadn’t decided for sure on starters as of Thursday.

The one thing that appears likely is that Lloyd may not substitute too wildly, since Saturday’s game is an exhibition but also one that could mimic some of UA’s more difficult matchups this season.

“I hope everyone gets an opportunity to play, but we have an obligation to prepare the team for tough games ahead,� Lloyd said. “We’ve got to figure out if there’s certain lineups we need to look at or a certain number of minutes we want to get guys.�

UA hoped to play Mexico

While the Wildcats are scheduled to face Saint Mary’s on Saturday and Embry-Riddle on Oct. 27 for their two exhibition games this preseason, Lloyd said UA had agreed to play the Mexican senior national team but couldn’t get a waiver from the NCAA to do so.

NCAA rules stipulate exhibitions can only be played against four-year schools but Lloyd said national teams are often looking for exhibitions in the fall because they need to prepare for FIBA qualifiers that are typically played in November and January windows.

“I think it would be awesome if we could ever figure that out,� Lloyd said.

Lloyd shrugs at Big 12 poll

Lloyd expressed his usual lack of concern about the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll, which put Arizona fourth and did not include any Wildcats on its 10-player preseason all-conference team.

“I have not spent one second thinking about it, talking about it,� Lloyd said. “Hopefully at the end of the day, our team plays well enough, and some of the individuals play well enough that they get the real honor that matters and that would be getting credit at the end of the season.�