Arizona on a roll after slow start in Tommy Lloyd’s fourth season as coach

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona’s free-flowing offense bogged down. The team’s best player wasn’t always at this best. The expected starting center played limited minutes before going down with a season-ending foot injury.

The combination led to the Wildcats’ worst stretch in four seasons under coach Tommy Lloyd, dimming the prospects of a season that had opened with so much promise.

It took a little time and a few adjustments, but Arizona has righted itself at the right time, pushing to the top of the Big 12 with a stretch of three wins over ranked opponents in 10 days.

“I thought we had a good team — I knew we had a good team,” Lloyd said. “We got off to a little bit of a rough start, so you know that that might skew things a little bit, but we really wanted to build. We wanted to get off to a good start in conference, that was important for us, and I think we’ve done that.”

Expectations have followed the Wildcats since the Lute Olson days and this season was no different. Coming off a second Sweet 16 run in three years, Arizona opened this season No. 10 in AP Top 25 preseason poll and climbed a spot after season’s first full week.

Then things went sideways.

The Wildcats were blown out by No. 24 Wisconsin, lost two of three at the Battle 4 Atlantis and dropped to 4-5 with a 57-54 loss to UCLA in Phoenix on Dec. 14.

They haven’t lost since.

Arizona closed out its nonconference season with two lopsided wins and has been stellar since the start of its first season Big 12 season. The Wildcats pulled out road wins against Cincinnati and West Virginia — both ranked at the time — and stretched their winning streak to seven games with Tuesday’s 81-70 win over No. 25 Baylor.

The run puts Arizona (11-5, 5-0 Big 12) at the top of the Big 12 standings with No. 3 Iowa State and in position to return to the rankings with a win at Texas Tech on Saturday.

“When we make good plays and when we’re competitive, we get that energy and adrenaline inside us,” Arizona big man Henry…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-roll-slow-start-tommy-212946768.html

Author : Associated Press

Publish date : 2025-01-16 21:29:00

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