SALT LAKE CITY – Before Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Aaron Gordon and Stanley Johnson bolted into the first round of the NBA draft, before they even put on an Arizona Wildcats jersey for real, their first college-game-like experience came against the Saint Mary’s Gaels.
It wasn’t good.
For any of them.
Saint Mary’s, which will face the Wildcats in a second-round NCAA Tournament game Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena, held closed preseason scrimmages with the Wildcats before the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, the first one in Moraga, Calif., the second one at McKale Center and the third back in the Bay Area.