What Tommy Lloyd said after Arizona's upset of Cincinnati
The Arizona Wildcats (8-5) picked up their biggest win of the season Saturday, upsetting No. 16 Cincinnati 72-67 on the road.
The win moved Arizona to 2-0 in the Big 12, with a revenge road game at West Virginia looming on Tuesday. The Mountaineers beat the Wildcats in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game on Nov. 29.
Arizona has now won four consecutive games and is playing its best basketball of the season. After the first half against Cincinnati, ESPN broadcaster Fran Fraschilla said "I think it's the best half of basketball they've played all season."
Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 15 points and freshman Carter Bryant scored a career-high 14. Seven-foot sophomore Henri Veesaar was a huge factor off the bench, finishing with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Here's what Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd had to say after the victory over Cincinnati.
Lloyd On Finding A Way To Win
"The biggest situation is we found a way. Our guys kind of hung in there. We had a big lead and it's happened to us before this year. It happened [against] UCLA a couple weeks ago — we're up 13 and the games get tough. I mean these other teams are good. They're talented. They amp up the pressure. I thought our guys did a good job of hanging with it."
"The turnovers crushed us. The offensive rebounding hurt us. But then KJ Lewis made two amazing, driving plays where we didn't have much at the end .... [he] got on two feet, pivoted pivoted and just found a way to will in two baskets, and that's what we didn't do against UCLA. ... These guys deserve it. They've been amazing and it'll be kind of a pivotal moment for our season."
Lloyd On Carter Bryant's Career Game
"Carter's really making progress, and the one thing about Carter is ... he checks two boxes that are really hard to check. He's an elite talent and he has elite character. The game is going to come to him. The refinement is going to come. The experience is going to come, and the progress he's made in the last month has been game-changing for us."
"I'm really proud of him because when you're somebody with Carter's stature, and you come to a place like Arizona, the expectations might be a little unrealistic. Sometimes it works out for freshmen right away. A lot of times it doesn't, and you've just got to hang with it. And he's hung with it and he's continued to get better. He has had an amazing attitude. I mean he hit 5-for-5 [from the field], 3-for-3 [from the 3-point line]. You should have made that other free throw. You had a perfect night, Carter. Just super proud of him. Super proud of him and the person that he is."
Lloyd On Caleb Love And Cincinnati's Defense
"They're good defenders. I mean obviously Cincinnati's a great defensive team, and we knew that coming in. We knew they were going to pay a lot of attention to Caleb [Love] and really make his touches harder. I thought he had a few good looks and a few drives that were 50/50 foul calls he maybe could have got that he didn't."
"They did a great job on [Love] and he probably had a few shots that maybe go in for him sometimes that didn't. But he's a winner and Caleb is someone I love and I love being in the fight with him. And I love that sometimes maybe people aren't rooting for him because of what we are. We love the guy and we're going to ride with him every day."
Lloyd On Building A 19-Point Lead
"You never know, right? These games are tough and you're hoping [you play well]. It's obviously a great environment. When you show up, you know before tip off. And every seat's full. You know it's going to be something special, and I thought for 30 minutes we did an unbelievable job keeping that crowd really quiet. And then we maybe got a little fatigued and there sense of urgency amped up a little bit.
"[Cincinnati] created some turnovers and they got out in transition and obviously got themselves back in the game. But that's something for us to continue to look at ... it's tough to get a 19-point lead at a place like Cincinnati, so we've got to put that in our our back pocket and know we can do it. Now the next thing is 'how do you manage that?' And I think we can grow there."
Lloyd On Henri Veesaar's Big Game
"Henri's getting better and better. And Henry knows this — I've stuck with him through thick and thin and I've always been a huge Henri Veesaar fan. He and I have always had great conversations. And you know what? He's finally getting his chance. And with getting his chance he's getting some game confidence. And so is Carter [Bryant]. Game confidence is a huge deal. ... You get better in workouts, you get better in practice, but to be able to do it in games really kind of cements it. So I think these guys are taking the next steps as players. And they know that I'm going to probably come with three or four things on film tomorrow that they could do better and that's just how we operate."
