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Arizona men’s basketball gutted out a 87-80 win over Baylor to go 2-0 on its Texas roadtrip, following the win over Houston. The Wildcats have now put themselves in a top-tier position to go and clinch a share of the Big 12 regular season title.
It will take another gritty performance against Kansas on Saturday when the Wildcats return to McKale for a primetime “Stripe Out” matchup. For now, here is what head coach Tommy Lloyd said following the win over the Bears:
Lloyd on the win: “Just a great basketball game, and we knew it was gonna be tough coming in here, we’ve been on the road for what feels like a week now. Obviously we had a big, gritty win on Saturday and we had to follow it up with a game that people probably thought we were overlooking, and there’s no way we were overlooking this game. I have way too much respect for Scott and for Baylor. We knew it was going to be tough, and I know how much talent they have. They’ve just had a tough year, but you can see when they put it together how good they really are. They seem like they had an answer for everything today, but I’m super proud of our guys for hanging in there, hanging in there, and that was just a hang with it game, hang with it, hang with it. It took incredible toughness and fortitude from our guys. I don’t know what narrative people have about our program, but if it doesn’t start with toughness, they’re not doing their homework. So, really proud of the guys and just thought there were a bunch of great individual efforts that we can get into.”
On how his team stuck with it: “These seasons are long and these games are tough, and they can be emotional, and so sometimes when you get punched like that and you’re on the road, it’s easy to say, ‘Hey, today’s not our day.’ Our guys just don’t have that kind of character. The toughness you get from a senior leader like Bradley, the toughness you get from a freshman guard like Burries was incredibly special. I thought those two guys were awesome today, and then I thought Ivan, the game might not have come really easy to him today, but he made some really key plays down the stretch with offensive rebounds and hustle, and that was inspiring to see.”
On 35 NBA scouts being in attendance: “That’s just another day in the Big 12. I’m not a guy that counts how many scouts there are, and it doesn’t make it a more important game. Important game or not, I’m sure those scouts like good basketball. There were a lot of good players on the court today that are going to probably play at their level in the near future, so hopefully those guys represented themselves well.”
On how hard it is playing in the Big 12: “We’re in the thick of it. I think all you got to do is look at Baylor’s record in conference, and that’s all you need to know. If you watched them play today and you see their record in conference, that’s all you need to say about the Big 12. That’s how hard it is on a day in and day out basis, and they got a great coach. It just shows it’s a thin line between having a successful season and not having a successful season. None of us coaches should ever take it for granted, because Scott’s one of the best in the business, and they’re having a tough go right now. To me, that looks like that team that’s kind of building for the Big 12 tournament that could cause some damage once they get into a knockout tournament scenario.”
On the offensive rebounding late in the game: “It’s huge. It’s the best insurance policy you can have on offense. For one, let’s take care of the ball, but two, offensive rebounding, it goes a long way to helping you with your efficiency. We really challenged our guys at halftime. We were behind on the glass and we were behind in the turnover game. We need to be a little more committed in those two areas to see if we could get on the uptick. Our guys did a great job coming out in the second half and setting the standard for how we wanted to play in the second half. I think by that first media timeout, I think we’d kind of already cut into the lead or tied the game. So, from there it literally felt like a one possession game for 15 minutes.”
On dealing with injuries/illnesses through the tough stretch: “Our training staff … did an incredible job with our guys. Delly, he’s a stud. He told me before the game he felt 100 percent. I don’t think he looked 100 percent but for him to say that shows his competitive character, and you see him tweaking that angle out there and hanging with it. We just don’t have a lot of options right now. We just got to get through it. Our medical staff’s doing a great job making our guys available. I think we hopefully have some reinforcements coming soon, which will be, they’ll be welcomed. I just think the toughness that our guys are showing physically right now, everyone’s banged up, so we know. I’m not saying we’re more hurt than anybody else, but you also have to deal with it, and you have to fight to get wins in these games and our guys are doing a great job fighting for the program.”
On if Koa Peat could make a possible return against Kansas: “That would be a great reinforcement. I have got nothing confirmed, but I think we’re hopefully nearing the point where he’ll be able to play.”
On the trajectory of the program as the regular season is winding down: “We have to shower up, get on that plane, and we have to have our best kind of recovery, re-energizing day of the year tomorrow and kind of build back. It’s been a tough stretch the last couple weeks and obviously we have an incredibly tough weekend coming at home, but we welcome that and we’re excited for the opportunity. I know our fans are going to be excited to welcome the boys back to town and, and I’m sure Saturday will be a pretty good environment. I’m sure Monday will as well.”