What’s that word, Kerr Kriisa asked. Um … … “contagious.”
He meant it in the context of his penchant for getting charge calls when he’s on defense – with the hope his teammates follow suit – but the word might as well be universal for Arizona this season. At least Tuesday night it was that on so many different levels in Arizona’s 81-52 win over visiting Northern Arizona.
Everyone’s play was contagious … in a good way. No vaccine required.
Offensively, Arizona had 28 field goals coming from 25 assists. Only six turnovers. Defensively, it “bird-dogged” NAU. The phrase coming from first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd in his description of Kriisa on defense.
It played with a mostly smooth rhythm on offense and looked good on defense for most of the 40 minutes. Ok, ok, it was NAU, but hey, do we need to mention what happened on the football field a couple of months ago? So, a win is a win and clearly one to celebrate as the players did when they showered Lloyd with celebratory water in the postgame locker room. to commemorate his first win as a head coach.
“I’ve been in a lot of locker room celebrations, but I’ve always been a guy who has been behind the scenes,” Lloyd said, “I let coach Few do that type of stuff. It literally caught me off guard. I wanted to go in there and tell the guys we have some work to do. It was a great moment for those guys. They’ve been a real special group to be associated with every day. I’m lucky to be coaching them.”
The win was as casual as his attire. UA made quick work of the Lumberjacks, dominating inside and outside with an array of newcomers and returners. That will likely be the case most of the early portion of the UA schedule.
And yes, there will be times with “funky lineups” and there will be points “left on the bone” with missed shots, but aren’t first games like this? Still, Arizona looked like a team that will enjoy playing with one another – loose and fancy free.
“The nit-picky part of me (says) we need to be a little bit better,” Lloyd said, “but overall, it’s not a bad start and there are things the guys can learn from, for sure.”
What struck out was the 25 assists that helped get those 28 baskets, but Lloyd explained it by saying “we really like sharing the ball. It’s great when team play with type of joy together. It’s fun for the fans, it’s fun for the coaches, it’s fun for the players.”
Fun, fun, Fun.
All Lloyd wants to do is win. Points don’t “have to be style points.”
He got all that from a lot of different people. Kriisa led the way wit 17 points. Azuolas Tubelis had 13 points and Dalen Terry added 11 points. Christian Koloko had a career-high five blocks. And Oumar Ballo had nine rebounds.
It was a mixed bag of contagious led by the returners from a year ago.
“I’ve told you from Day One — and it wasn’t lip service — that it was really important to get a lot of the guys back,” Lloyd said. “They have experience and I’m sure there were a lot of growing pains last year. They were able to build on it and we’re gonna continue to build on it.”
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