At 7-foot-2 and 260 pounds, Motiejus Krivas strikes an imposing figure in the paint. But there’s a big difference between just being a big body and making full use of it.
In his first two seasons—or, rather, one and eight games—Krivas made an impact on defense but not in a way that stood out. But in his junior year the Lithuanian native has come into his own as a defensive presence, and nowhere has that been more noticeable than in the NCAA Tournament.
Through two tourney games Krivas has blocked seven
shots, tied with 7-foot-3 Michigan center Aday Mara for most in the event. For the season he has 69 blocks, tied for 7th-most in school history.
There have been countless more shots Krivas has affected, though. Long Island and Utah State missed half their layup attempts in San Diego, and many of those were the result of altering their shot when Krivas was in the game.
“He affects all of it,” Utah State center Zach Keller said.
For the season, Krivas is averaging 3.1 blocks per 40 minutes. He also grabs 8.1 defensive rebounds per 40, rivaling teammate Tobe Awaka (9.3), and his defensive rating of 92.8 is 15th in Division I, much better than Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga of Kansas (96.9).
“He’s been a game changer for us defensively,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I know a lot of the analytic gurus out there have studied it probably more than I have, I just know I feel good when he’s on the court. He’s got great instincts. Mo stands for mobility at 7-2. And he does a great job contesting shots up high.”
To help Krivas become more than just a big body on defense Lloyd, a self-proclaimed lover of bigs, brought in one of his best from his Gonzaga days to help. Przemek Karnowski, who played at Gonzaga from 2012-17 and was 5th nationally in defensive rating as a senior on the Bulldogs team that reached the 2017 NCAA title game, spent the previous two seasons on the UA staff as a graduate assistant.
“He’s such a great player, such a great mentor,” Krivas said. “He was probably one of the most unstoppable players in college basketball. And on defense, like he wasn’t the fastest guy, couldn’t jump the most, but he knew how things worked. He shared those secrets.”
A big part of what made Karnowski so effective on defense was his ability to avoid foul trouble. He averaged 3.9 fouls per 40 minutes over his career, fouling out just six times in 118 games with only two of those happening his senior season.
Krivas’ fouls per 40 rate is 4.8, but each year it’s gone down—4.2 in 2025-26—and he’s only fouled out once in a close game (Feb. 21 at Houston). He had one foul in 32 minutes against Utah State.
“It just comes with practice,” he said. “You keep doing it. You fail, you succeed.”
Krivas had 11 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in the second round, only the second UA player to have that kind of line in an NCAA Tournament game. The other was AJ Bramlett in the first round in 1997.
