The Arizona men’s basketball team was ranked 13th going into the season just three months ago with so many questions – concerns? – from those who watch the game. All the while Tommy Lloyd had been singing the team’s praises to whomever would listen, at luncheons, big groups and the like.
What did everyone miss in their evaluations of the Wildcats, now 23-0 and the No. 1 team in the country after Saturday afternoon’s walk-in-the-park 84-47 win over Oklahoma State?
“That’s hard to say,” Lloyd said when I asked him how the media missed. “Having done this for a lot of years, you maybe have a little better feel for what you have (more so than) the people on the outside understand.”
Then, Lloyd waxed philosophic about people looking for flaws rather than looking for positives, then said, “People, maybe, looked at us and thought we were young, thought we couldn’t shoot good, things like that. But I felt really good all along about the collective pieces we had.
“I’m not gonna sit back and say I expected to be right where we’re at right now. But I’m not blown away either.”
Who hasn’t bought in now? From the locals to the national scribes, it’s been one big lovefest, and a great ride to the top of the polls, now in its eighth week of being No. 1 all the while setting a school record for consecutive wins at 23 and setting a record for consecutive wins for a Big 12 team.
If UA is looking for an endorsement, it has no further to look than Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz, who all but gushed over the Cats after seeing his team get manhandled for about 25 minutes in what could be considered Arizona’s biggest one-sided win this year – against what you’d think was a quality team.
For five or so minutes, OKS coach told the local media – in something I’ve never seen or heard before – that they have “an outstanding basketball team.”
You got his point in gushing about Arizona, but this isn’t the media’s team; it’s Tommy Lloyd’s. But it sure felt like it was the media’s team as well.
He said it was “one of the best teams that I’ve faced this year so congratulations to them.”
He went on, and on and, uhm, on.
Arizona was just too physical for the Cowboys; too everything for the Cowboys. Here’s a quick sample size of a list of what could be a long one.
Arizona had 16 points off turnovers to OSU’s four.
It had 54 points in the paint to OSU’s 14.
UA’s bench had 28 points to OSU’s 11.
OSU shot just 25 percent from the floor.
Five UA payers scored in double figures to OSU’s one.
Arizona had 56 rebounds to OSU’s 35.
“We got physically whipped for 40 minutes on the backboards,” Lutz said.
So much so, Lutz continued waxing poetic on how good Arizona is.
“You have a really good basketball program, you’ve got a good basketball coach (and) you’ve got the opportunity to be one of the elite teams and win a national title,” he said. “Will you? I don’t know. But you’re in the one percent of college basketball. Congratulations.”
It sure looked like it on Saturday as it played in front of some of the 2001 team that reached the NCAA championship team game vs. Duke. Whether the current Cats were inspired by their presence or not, it sure looked like they did in 2001 when the back-in-the-day Cats dominated teams.
Ironically, it was the seventh 30-point win over an opponent this season, the same number the 2001 team had all season. Lloyd said he wasn’t expecting that big of a win, given OSU beat Brigham Young on Wednesday.
Still, Arizona looked as good as advertised – No. 1 in the country.
What makes this team so special?
“I just feel like our versatility, and we know how deep we are,” said leader Jaden Bradley, who had 13 points. “I feel like our guys off the bench did a great job. It can be anybody’s night, the bigs, the guards, and I feel like everybody’s happy for one another. And I feel like that’s special. You don’t see that too often.”
You don’t see Arizona 23-0 much either. Hell, it’s been 109 years since.
Next – Kansas.
“It’s crazy in there,” Bradley said. “It’s hard to hear yourself and their fans are crazy. Kansas is a great program. They have a great team this year, so it’s gonna be a tough atmosphere. But I feel like we’re gonna go out there and handle business for sure.”
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