What Tommy Lloyd said after Arizona's NCAA Tournament win over Akron

The Wildcats routed Akron to advance to the second round

Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd reacts against the Akron Zips during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

As Tommy Lloyd knows, anything can happen in March Madness.

As an assistant coach at Gonzaga for 21 years — and the past four as the head coach at Arizona — Lloyd has seen everything the NCAA Tournament has to offer.

And for the third time in four years, his Arizona Wildcats (23-12) will be playing in the round of 32. No. 4 seed Arizona routed No. 13 Liberty 93-65 on Friday night in a first-round game in Seattle. The Wildcats will play the winner of Oregon vs. Liberty on Sunday in the second round.

The Wildcats capitalized on a significant height advantage, outrebounding Akron 53-22 and outscoring them 48-20 in the paint. Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 19 points and 6 rebounds, and Trey Townsend added 16 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Carter Bryant wowed the crowd with his athleticism and finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Here's what Lloyd had to say after Arizona's first-round win:

Lloyd: 'We threw the seeds out the window'

"First off, want to congratulate Akron on a great season. Coach (John) Groce does a great job. Obviously we're fortunate today to come out on the right side of it. These games are something you never take for granted. I was sitting watching them last two days in my hotel room, and you can feel the stress in your stomach because I've been fortunate to be in 26 first-round games now. So I know how they feel. I know how they feel when you're seeded low and how they feel when you're seeded high."

"That's why our mantra, basically, is we threw the seeds out the window. These are two good teams playing. They both have had good seasons, earned their way here, and we had a job to do. Our guys did a very good job coming out, having our emotions in a good sweet spot. We weren't too high, weren't too low, and, obviously, we came out, made three threes to start the game. That's a great start."

"But you just know as a coach that there's something coming, and then Akron hit back, and then our guys settled in. I think other than being a little bit loose with the ball in the first half, I thought we played exceptional. So credit goes to the players and the coaching staff for their preparation. Thankful for everybody's contributions, and I can't wait to see who we play next."

Lloyd on Arizona's offensive performance

"Obviously it's a great offensive game, and I mean, I want to see what else is out there. I'm not going to put any limitations on us. I challenged our guys before the game, asked them, 'Could we outrebound these guys by 15?' And I think the answer ended up being yes. I think we outrebounded them by 31 ... that's how you give yourself a lot of margin for error if you can control the glass like that."

"But in order to do that, you've got to get them to miss shots. When you miss shots, you've got to have guys that assume you're going to miss and pursue rebounds. So just a great moment-by-moment effort by our guys. They stacked up lots of good moments within possessions, and I thought it was as tight as we've played defensively all year against a team like that. With our switches and our coverages, I thought our guys did a great job."

Lloyd on how the Big 12 prepared Arizona

"I made no bones about it. It was a real challenge, but we loved every second of it. It was awesome. Going through it, I feel like it's -- you know, it's going to make me a better coach, which ultimately is going to help our program long-term. I feel like it got our players better. Each one of these three guys next to me here (KJ Lewis, Carter Bryant, Trey Townsend), what's really cool is -- you know, if I had more time, and trust me, I don't want to be here all day, I could get into specific, you know, parts of the season or games where they really struggled."

"For each one of those guys to step up today on this stage and play the way they did, it shows a lot of growth and development. So I'm really proud of the guys because ultimately that's what you want. You want your players to continue to get better. And, you know, I'm the keeper of gate, but, you know, they're the stars, and so to see them go out and shine like that tonight was pretty special."

Lloyd on Jaden Bradley's 3-point shooting

(Bradley was 3-of-5 from downtown vs. Akron.)

"Well, obviously, I've had conversations with (Jaden) and K.J. a little bit on three-point shooting, but at the end of the day, I really trust those guys, and I want 'em to know that I have confidence in 'em, and I want 'em to shoot threes when they're comfortable. They don't feel like they have to shoot 'em all the time."

"Yeah, but if they could step up, the combination of those two, and make a few threes here and there, it's really an added element because what teams are deciding to do is not guard 'em."

"And listen, that's hard living, not guarding somebody, because you're giving up open shots in a meaningful moment. They're both savvy players. They understand how to drive and play offense. It's not like this is the first time that somebody's guarded them like that. I think they both -- I think K.J. had a travel early, going a little bit too quick on it, but other than that, I thought they handled it great."