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Inside The Wildcats

Arizona's Lloyd's Thoughts After First-Round Game in NCAA Tournament

The Wildcats head coach is impressed with his team, but knows job is not finished.
Caleb Meadows|
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Arizona Wildcats

Arizona is moving on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after knocking off Long Island yesterday in the first round. The Wildcats' size and strength overwhelmed the Sharks, as they won 92-58.

The Wildcats will now turn their focus to Utah State. The competition will get more difficult as the tournament progresses, so the Wildcats will have to stay focused and not let the first round fool them.

Lloyd Gives Credit to LIU

Head coach Tommy Lloyd was impressed with the Sharks and head coach Rod Strickland. The former NBA player took over in 2022, where he has turned the program around immensely.

“A great job by our guys today,” Lloyd said. “You know, these games are never easy, and you never take them for granted. You know, LIU had a great season, so I definitely want to recognize that. Rod's done an amazing job building that program back. I mean, I didn't realize the whole story to kind of look at it.

“And you know that three-year turnaround from where they were, single-digit wins, single-digit wins, to the NCAA Tournament. That's pretty special. And, you know, college basketball can be pretty stratified. So I have lots of respect for my colleagues and guys that coach in some of those smaller conferences at a place like LIU, because you know what, it's just as hard or harder to win there than it is in Arizona,” he said.

Burries Was Always Going To Be a Star

Brayden Burries is the leading scorer for the Wildcats, with 16 points a game this season. The 6-foot-4 freshman guard is projected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Burries was also the leading scorer for the Wildcats yesterday in the opening round. Lloyd noted that he is not surprised by how this season went for Burries.

“I just told Braden, like, you know, if I would have been predicting the future, you know, like in September, how his season would go, I would have thought it would have played out just like it did,” Lloyd said. “I thought it was going to take him a little time. I felt like he needed to get a few games under his belt. We knew how good he was and how talented he was, because we're in the gym with him every day."

“I thought he was going to need some game experiences, and he was going to need to learn from them,” he said.

Wildcats Knew To Stay Locked In

No. 1-seeded Duke and Michigan both had to work for their wins on Thursday, as the Wildcats cruised for the entire game after their hot start. Lloyd made sure to make it a point to his team that all opponents should be treated equally.

“Yeah, well, listen, I don't think playing down to the competition is something that ever enters my mind, you know?” Lloyd said. “I mean, I have a lot of respect for our opponents, and I make sure our players do as well. I told our guys, you know, these 1 vs. 16 games, you just don't know. And so obviously, the objective is to win the game, so you can't get emotionally caught up if the game is close at half or anything like that."

“And the main objective is to find a way to get the win and, luckily, we came out and we got a lead right away, and we're kind of able to carry that the rest of the game,” he said.

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Caleb Meadows
CALEB MEADOWS

Caleb Meadows is a contributor to the UNC Tar Heels. He previously covered Louisville sports and WWE for FanSided. Meadows also covered local sports in Oklahoma while attending Oklahoma State, where he earned a degree in sports communications. Follow him on X, at @CalebMeadows25."