The offseason has officially begun for Arizona Basketball in the wake of a loss to Clemson in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. A roster shakeup seems imminent with the NBA Draft and NCAA Transfer portal looming, and the first few dominoes have already fallen with promising freshmen Paulius Murauskas and Filip Borovicanin hitting the transfer portal.
Murauskas, like former Arizona standout Azuolas Tubelis, came to Arizona from Lithuania. The 6-foot-8 forward spent one season with Arizona, where he saw sparing minutes mostly in end-of-game situations when the outcome was already decided.
Murauskas averaged just 5.1 minutes and 2.7 points per game, with most of his usage coming in the early season. He played a season-high 18 minutes in the opener against Morgan State and posted 10 points, before grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring 5 points in 15 minutes the next week against Southern. After that, though, his usage plummeted but he did show a few flashes.
His best outing of the season, though, was undoubtedly Arizona’s first game against Arizona State. In a mere six minutes, Murauskas hucked up two 3-pointers and both rang true. He scored an additional basket and also cashed in on all four of his free throw attempts for 12 total points while snatching three rebounds too. Arizona ended up throttling the rivals 105-60.
