Through the years Kansas coach Bill Self is 4-5 against Arizona teams – including 2-2 vs. Tommy Lloyd-coached teams.
On Saturday afternoon, it was his fifth loss against the Wildcats as a coach since 2005, falling 84-61 in front of a crazed McKale Center crowd. He’s seen some very good UA teams through the years and, well, just OK teams too. And let’s not forget the one he saw in 2001 in a regional final to get to the Final Four.
He hasn’t, so when I asked if this team is different from Arizona teams of the past he said, um, kinda. He had the principles involved: Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Loren Woods, Michael Wright, Luke Walton and Jason Gardner.
A good memory for a bad event.
“That team was a pretty good team,” Self said, answering. “This team is different. I think this is different (because) it’s an inside-out playing team (talking style). This team gets paint touches from their guards but the reality they can get enough twos to offset (them) making 3s.”
In a few weeks, we’ll see if Arizona’s style can match 2001’s results or better. But this team – for some stretches – looked very good, maybe even the best team in the country a time or two. The definite two occurred during Arizona’s 19-0 run to start the game and its 16-0 run to all but put the game away. If my math is correct, that’s 35-0 unanswered points – harking back to the Lute Olson era when Arizona would find a “run-of-death” somewhere in a game. This time Arizona had two.
In fact, Arizona’s runs gave Kansas the … um, fits. (Use another word at your leisure).
“They just caught on fire,” Melvin Council, Jr., said of Arizona’s second run after Kansas went from a double-digit deficit to a two-point deficit with about 12 minutes left.
But, Arizona didn’t stop, drop and rollover, instead it rolled the Jayhawks, outscoring KU 35-14 run to end the game.
“Shoutout to Arizona for playing so well today,” Council, Jr., added.
It helped Arizona (27-2, 14-2) clinch a tie for the Big 12 Conference title with two games left in the regular season. Iowa State comes to Tucson on Monday. That one could be another like Saturday’s game, given Iowa State’s potential.
But first, Saturday’s review:
Arizona’s pick-your-poison offense was hard to digest for KU. All five UA starters scored in double figures with Mo Krivas (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Brayden Burries (20 points, 12 rebounds) having double-doubles. Jaden Bradley added 10 points, including five in Arizona’s second long run. Ivan Kharchenkov added 11 points and Koa Peat, in his much-anticipated return from a three-game layoff, added 12 points and seven rebounds.
How does it feel when all the poison works?
“It’s about playing with each other, building chemistry,” Bradley said. “We’re very unselfish. Guys like feeding the hot hand … we’ve got so many options. It’s fun out there … we love sharing the ball.”
Because when they do blowout victories are usually the result – even against teams like KU.
“Obviously a great day in McKale, I know a lot of people have been looking forward to this game for a long time, and we understand the magnitude of what these two programs mean when they play,” Lloyd said. “That’s just a testament to the history and the legacy of both places. For us, it’s one of 18 games in a conference schedule, and it counts as much as any of the other ones. We put ourselves in a good position. We wanted to take care of business today at home against Kansas. We made a great run, then they were able to make a little run back at us, and then we were able to make another run, and then kind of finish it off. So, it’s a great day overall.”
Indeed. Now, comes March as we turn the page to the season-gauging time of the year. Here’s the catch for Arizona. It has looked spectacular at times and, well, a little vulnerable in others (although those have been few). But, Arizona is seeming healthy again so that should bode well moving forward.
“You don’t take it for granted,” Lloyd said. “I keep reminding (everyone), you never know your team next week (or week to week). That’s part of how it goes and if you have a team that you know is committed to solving problems and can stay together, you can weather a lot of tough storms, and we did that.
So, it’s good to kind of get all the pieces back together. Now we got to kind of see if we can kind of re-form and earn something even better down the stretch of the season.”
The clock is ticking – and maybe, just maybe – UA can party like it’s 2001 again. Or something like that.
