What Tommy Lloyd said after Arizona's win over Baylor
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The Arizona Wildcats continue to prove they're one of the toughest teams in college basketball.
A little over 48 hours after a knock-down, drag-out loss to Houston, Tommy Lloyd's team marched into one of the loudest venues in the country and emerged with an impressive 74-67 Big 12 road victory over Baylor.
Lloyd started a bigger lineup against the Bears, featuring 7-foot redshirt sophomore Henri Veesaar and 6-foot-8 junior Tobe Awaka — and it paid off. Led by Awaka's 14 points and 12 rebounds, the Wildcats outscored Baylor 42-34 in the paint and outrebounded them 37-31. Veesaar filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Arizona (18-8, 12-3) remains two games behind first-place Houston with five games to play. The Wildcats will get a couple of days off before hosting BYU on Saturday.
Here's what Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said after his team beat Baylor for the second time:
LLOYD ON ARIZONA PLAYING WITH ENERGY
"The biggest thing I thought we did well was show up with energy. I thought our approach was going to be critical to this game. Obviously we're coming off a two-game skid against good teams, one on the road, one at home. We felt like we had opportunities to win both those games and you just don't want to let a third one slip through."
"But you're at Baylor. It's a coin toss type game, if you're lucky. I just thought we did a good job showing up with energy. ... We kind of played our bigger lineup which we haven't done much. I thought they were great. Henri (Veesaar) is turning into Hank right in front of our eyes, so I'm super proud of him."
LLOYD ON CHALLENGING HIS TEAM
"We challenge these guys every way we can. We're coaches. We're manufacturing challenges. ... We've got a good group of guys. Things haven't come easy for this team, but I think that could also be, a little bit, life in the Big 12. And we're learning on the fly."
LLOYD ON VEESAAR'S CLUTCH FREE THROWS
"That's big time for Henri. Obviously last game he had a few free throws that he probably wishes he would have back. Henri's a great shooter and a great free throw shooter and someone that we're comfortable having in at the end of the game just for his ball skills, his hands. I know he's a good shooter, and so I'm proud that he had the opportunity to step up today."
LLOYD ON ARIZONA'S BIG LINEUP
"It's been something that's been on my mind for a while. It's no demotion for anyone. I've been wanting to play this big lineup for a while, and when Trey (Townsend) went out we got a few opportunities to try it a little bit more. And then last game I wanted to do it a little bit more but I found once the flow of the game got going, fouls dictate a lot of your subs."
LLOYD ON ANTHONY DELL'ORSO
"One guy I do want to mention is Anthony Dell'Orso. It hasn't come easy for him and I've really encouraged him to hunt more shots and just become more of a catch-and-shoot threat. I thought he gave us some great minutes tonight and really, really helped us out. He didn't get to close the game but I thought his his early contributions should not go unnoticed."
"Listen, this kid can really shoot the ball. I think he's just got to put on his shooting hat more, and a little less of his dribbling hat, and hunt catch-and-shoot shots. The beautiful thing about him, he is good enough on offense, if it's a hard close out, he can put the ball on the ground. But I want him to be a shoot first and ask questions later guy. ... If he's out there stroking threes that other coach is not feeling good. ... In order for us to get to our ceiling we've got to capitalize on everybody on our team, maximizing their opportunities and their roles."
LLOYD: 'I'M NOT AN EXCUSE GUY'
"I could think about every excuse in the book. I'm not an excuse guy. I don't live in hypotheticals. I don't make excuses. We had two games that I thought were winnable. I've rewatched them and I rewatched the end of them really closely, and try to figure out ways I can get better and to help our guys a little bit more. And then obviously giving them some advice on how I think we can close these games better because I think we've been a good closing team the last couple months."
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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.