It happened just moments into the game with Arizona and Arizona State.
After a play on Arizona’s end of the court occurred, UA’s Koa Peat turned to head downcourt only to see big, athletic Allen Mubeka in his path a step or two away. Both banged into one another – purposely or accidentally – and, well, game was on. It was the first of what was at least two physical back-and-forths between the two.
Another happened with about 10 minutes into the first half. (see tweet below)
Welcome to Big 12 basketball. No, Big Boy basketball. No. 1 Arizona was headed into a tough, physical battle – perhaps it’s biggest (in terms of physicality) of the season.
It proved to be prophetic, because it was PHYSICAL. Real PHYSICAL.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DThSTKjARGj
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said he knew it would be.
“They always do,” Lloyd said after UA’s closer-than-expected 89-82 win over rival Arizona State. “Bobby’s (Hurley) a ferocious competitor, one of the greatest in college basketball to ever play. The dude’s been coaching for a long time. He knows how to get a team amped up and to respond … I’m not surprised at all the way they played, and with the effort, physicality they gave. I would expect nothing less, and I appreciate the competition.”
That’s good because it’ll happen again – a team or two or three will try to rough up the Wildcats to try to throw them off. It nearly – kind of – worked, given the closeness of the game.
Still, Arizona moved to 17-0 and is now just one of three undefeated teams in the country, along with Nebraska and Miami, Ohio. Still, Lloyd said his team has no hubris (he’s used that term at least three times in a week) to describe his team’s attitude.
Adding, of course, his team is built for all this. If any truer words have ever been spoken it is those. Arizona IS built for being more physical. ASU through tough and physical at UA and Arizona countered with Peat (he regrouped after that Mubeka encounter) and Tobe Awaka, one of the tougher dudes out there.
They eventually combined for 49 points and 15 rebounds: Peat (25, 10) and Awaka (24, 5).
What did Lloyd learn about his team?
“That we’re here for it … we don’t expect these games to come easy, we obviously take all these games serious,” he said. “So, I really appreciate the battle. I appreciate the competition. I probably would have been okay if we would have lost.
“I’m really happy we won, but keep things moving. So, yeah, I learned that our guys are here for it. You put them in tough situations, they’re not afraid to make plays and find a way in a really tough game.”
But he would have been okay had they lost? Fans would have gone, well um, crazy. And it would have been another one of those rivalry moments no one would have forgotten, given UA was a 21-point favorite. He later explained the comment.
“I understand it’s part of the process. Would I be happy? No, but I’m gonna be all right. I’m built for this,” he said. “I don’t like to judge myself on whether we’re undefeated or not, it literally has zero impact. That’s for you guys (media). We got through it.”
In fact, they got through it without the complete services of big man Mo Krivas, who played just 20 minutes after getting in foul trouble. It was Lloyd’s decision not to play him in the later portion of the game, given UA was good enough to handle ASU late.
“They were playing good and gave us a little bit of mobility out there,” he said of the smaller lineup. “Not that Mo doesn’t, but I felt like we kind of got that lead and there was an opportunity maybe to put Mo back in. We kind of just looked at it and decided to go a little bit smaller.”
Hurley said UA “has a unique ability to wear teams down with their roster by the size and physicality (because) its size is different than anything we’ve seen this year.
To that end, Hurley knew what he was up against, given he was impressed in preparing to Arizona. And his brother, Danny, lost to UA earlier in the season.
“They look like they are a team that could go the distance,” he said.
Buckle up, it’s going to be a sometimes bumpy and physical ride – depends on the opponent’s strategy.
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