Mission accomplished!
At least it was for the University of Arizona men’s basketball team when it came to the preseason. Not like Tommy Lloyd & Company expected to finish 13-0 and No. 1 in the country at the end of it.
Hell, did you? Really? No one did, given UA started three freshmen and started the season No. 13 in the polls. But after Monday night’s 99-71 win over South Dakota State at McKale Center, Arizona has won a baker’s dozen of games and has looked impressive doing so – with cupcakes and toughies on the schedule.
“It was definitely an outcome that we wanted – you know – undefeated,” said UA guard Jayden Bradley, who had 13 points and 10 assists. “That’s behind us now. Getting ready for Big 12 play and we’re excited to start that.”
That starts on Saturday afternoon when UA faces Utah on the road. Still, there’s time to reflect on what a season it’s been going undefeated in one of the best starts in program history. Not since the 2013-14 has a UA team gone this deep into the season without a loss. Add in the last eight games have come by 20 points or more and there is something special brewing here.
“I’ll let you guys (media) be the judge of how good it went,” Tommy Lloyd said, when I asked him to evaluate the season to date. “I’m not good at comparing one thing to the next. I’m just right now thankful to beat South Dakota State. I’m going to get ready for Utah, but what I will say, it went well.”
He was being modest as he usually is when it comes to self-evaluation. But UA beat defending champion Florida, UCLA, Connecticut, Alabama, San Diego State and Auburn in the heavyweight category.
“I knew we were going to get challenged early, and we found a way to get through those games on the (win) side, they didn’t come easy,” Lloyd said. “We learned a lot about ourselves, and then we were able to kind of come home after those first four or five games and really kind of reset and really start our build.”
And, well, find their groove with the right mix to rotations and a bench that was willing to find its role. Former starters Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso have come in and not missed a beat.
“I feel like the month of December, we got a lot better, and so I like how it’s set up, with the challenges early that we found a way to get through,” Lloyd said. “We had some practice time in December. I thought we responded and got better, and it was good to have a little break over Christmas and then come back and I feel like our guy’s energy and effort in practices is where it should be and I thought (Monday’s) game was the perfect challenge.”
What helps is this team has bonded to the point where there is no specific player a team can key on. Every player is a threat. Figure on Monday, three players had double doubles and most games someone has a double-double.
“There’s a strength in numbers, and there’s a strength in having significant contributors across the board,” Lloyd said. “We have really talented individual players who value playing team basketball and prioritize making the right play, and when you do that the scoring distribution will get spread out a little bit.”
It also helps Arizona has stayed relatively healthy – outside of some nicks and bruises.
“We’ve had injuries,” he said. “Injuries are obviously an unfortunate thing, and we’ve avoided that and hopefully we’ll continue to avoid that.”
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