What is old is new again.
At least that’s what it seems like for No. 4 seed Arizona and No. 5 Oregon. Longtime rivals while in the Pac-10/Pac-12 to Sunday when they’ll be re-found rivals for the right to get to the Sweet 16.
Does it seem weird?
To Oregon coach Dana Altman it does. And it does to Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd.
But Altman was so curious about the meeting that he looked it up since he’s been at Oregon. In 14 years, he’s faced Arizona 27 times. Oregon holds the advantage 15-12 in that time. Arizona has won three of the last four.
“It was always a game that we looked forward to,” Altman told reporters in Seattle on the eve of the matchup. “A lot of years we were battling for position in the league for the NCAA Tournament and so forth. Sean (Miller) did a good job and now Tom’s (Tommy Lloyd) doing a good job. It was always a big game. Yeah, it is unusual, especially given the last 14 years that we’ve been associated with the program.”
In the world that is college basketball and curious meetings – in the East Region in Seattle – it all makes sense and, well, doesn’t make sense.
Oh, by the way, Arizona is 55-38 vs. Oregon all-time and 4-2 in the Tommy Lloyd era.
“We are looking forward to the challenge again,” Altman said.
All parties likely do the same things they’ve done in the past: run, rebound and run some more. Old tapes won’t like.
Both sides will see: they are who they are – no matter the personnel.
“Their system is their system,” Altman said. “Their transition is always good, they push the ball, make or miss. We know we got to get back, try to get our defense put together. Mentioned the rebounding. And then Caleb Love, when he gets it going, he’s a handful. Tough opponent for us. We’re going to have to play awfully, awfully well to give (ourselves) an opportunity.”
Lloyd feels the same way, giving plenty of respect to the Ducks before the game.
“Usually you wouldn’t see that until later in the NCAA Tournament,” he said.
But here they are. Rivalry renewed.
“For it to happen earlier, it’s interesting, but it’s a great thing,” Lloyd said. “Anytime you’re in the tournament and whoever you’re playing the next game, you’re excited. Obviously, it’s a program and a coach I have a lot of respect for, and I’m sure both teams’ staffs probably sat down and watched the film yesterday, and they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, that’s right.’ I think there was probably a lot of those familiar things.
“Both programs have a conviction in the way they play and a style of play that kind of suits themselves and their personnel. There’s probably a lot of familiarity on both sides, but it’s a new year.”
One where each team had plenty of success in their new conferences. Arizona did well in the Big 12, finishing third and Oregon finished seventh but handled itself well.
And here they are. After struggling early, some thought Arizona might not get here. Lloyd thought otherwise. Or at least he felt strongly about his team, despite starting 4-5.
“It’s a long year, and I knew we had a good team,” he said. “I knew we had to get better and there was a sense of urgency, but I knew we had a good team.”
Then he waxed poetic on his situation to get better.
“If you want your team to be steady and consistent, as a coach, you have to be steady and consistent,” he said. “So, we stayed the course. We didn’t blow things up or panic, and we had some tough days, and we practiced hard, and we got better, and we acknowledged our deficiencies and tried to overcome them and figured out what our strengths were and tried to accentuate them. It’s been an awesome journey. It’s been an awesome journey for me as a coach.”
