What Tommy Lloyd said after Arizona's strange rivalry win over Arizona State
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In a strange game that featured 213 combined points, 70 free throws, 48 personal fouls and just 10 total turnovers, the Arizona Wildcats (20-10, 14-5) found a way to win.
And that's all that matters in March.
Arizona beat Arizona State 113-100 on Tuesday night to sweep the season series from its rival for the second consecutive season. With the win the Wildcats clinched a top-four seed in the Big 12 Tournament, which comes with a double bye into the quarterfinals. Arizona wraps up the regular season on Saturday at Kansas.
"We're going to take (Wednesday) off, get our legs under us and then game plan for Kansas," Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after the game. "I'm happy we secured a secured a top-four spot, which basically allows us that double bye where we don't have to play until Thursday. I think that's something that should be commended, especially the way our season started."
Henri Veesaar led Arizona with a career-high 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. KJ lewis scored 21 points off the bench, and Caleb Love had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on Senior Night.
The Wildcats struggled defensively, allowing Arizona State (13-17, 4-15) to shoot 12-of-23 from the 3-point line and get to the free throw line 31 times. The Sun Devils were shorthanded and finished the game with just four scholarship players after Basheer Jihad and Shawn Phillips Jr. fouled out.
"I'm proud of the way we played offensively," Lloyd said. "Obviously we want to play better defensively. Starting (Wednesday), as a staff we will kind of unemotionally figure out what we've got to do to be a little bit better defensively."
"It's three out of four games where teams have played pretty well offensively against us, so we've got to figure out is there a code that's been cracked? Is it a little bit the code has been cracked and a little bit of bad luck? Sometimes they just make the shot, right? So we've got to dig a little deeper and look into it."
Here are the highlights of what Lloyd said after the game.
'Obviously we don't want to give up 100 points'
"Obviously we don't want to give up 100 points, and it's got to be better. But we had this same game against (Arizona State) two years ago here where they hit a bunch of what I would consider tougher shots. They've always been capable of making tougher shots and shots off the dribble and some tough threes. And they kind of have a knack for pulling a few of those out of the hat a couple times a year. They did it at Texas Tech. They did it here this year."
"But we had that game against them two years ago, and I don't know if we panicked or whatever happened, but they kept it close, kept it close, kept it close, and gave themselves a chance to win at the end. And they threw in that 60-footer, so I was feeling that. ... I just kept telling them 'Hey there's lots of ways to win a game. You can win a game with a huge run in the first half. Sometimes you can win a game at the end. But you can also win them with 16, 12, 8 minutes to go.' So we just needed to keep finding that opportunity. When was it going to be our moment to make the push to win the game? And finally about four or five minutes to go in the game we made that push. Proud of our guys for hanging with it and not letting it come down to the last possession."
Lloyd on Henri Veesaar's huge game
"Henri played well. He played really well. He actually threw in a big-time right-handed jump hook at a crunch time, which to me was the most impressive basket of the day. He made a big three in the corner that kind of went in, out, in, which was huge. And then I thought we had control of the game and he shot another one, and I told him that you better make that one. I mean that time we're probably thinking about running a little bit of clock and things like that. But Henri's continued to to play well and I'm proud of his progress."
Lloyd on the grind of the season
"This time of year, I know this: the refs do a great job overall; the coaches do a great job; the players do a great job. Everyone's a little bit tired, and probably tired of each other, so we all kind of just need to take a step back and you know what would be awesome? If we all had a a weekend off and maybe a a happy hour to kind of like be normal people again. And then let's start the push for the postseason."
Lloyd on Senior Night and coaching his son, Liam
"Liam's a great kid. And obviously we have a great relationship. But we approached this year like we never thought it would happen, because we never wanted it to happen. And I'm not saying that in a bad way. But Liam's very independent. He was on his own journey. He doesn't need his dad."
"When I was 18 — I have awesome parents, blue collar as can be and work their asses off — I just remember when I went to college, I drove myself to college. And they basically told me coming back home's not an option. And it was a great home. But you're on your own journey. And so when Liam left home, Chanelle and I don't know if we're ever gonna be in his day-to-day life ever again. So to have him here has been really cool."
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-029877d49238355bd3388a94f90e3c72.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.