Arizona coach talks about BYU’s big visit on Saturday, facing Jimmer Fredette in NCAAs long ago

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Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd calls out during a game against the BYU Cougars held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona’s last three home basketball games at 14,545-seat McKale Memorial Center were against three nationally ranked teams — No. 3 Iowa State, No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 6 Houston.

So Saturday’s visit from unranked BYU represents nothing more than a light exercise for the No. 19 Wildcats, right?

Hardly, fourth-year coach Tommy Lloyd said Friday afternoon, despite the fact that Arizona downed BYU 85-74 in Provo two and a half weeks ago.

“No. No. That’s easy (to answer),” Lloyd said after being asked if the Wildcats have to guard against a letdown in the 8 p.m. MST tipoff on ESPN.

“They are a good team to me that is coming in here that is capable of winning in McKale,” Lloyd said. “So we gotta treat that with respect.”

Arizona (18-8, 12-3) went 2-2 after dominating the last five minutes in Provo to break out of a tight game, sandwiching wins over Texas Tech and Baylor around losses to Kansas State and Houston, the loss to then-No. 6 Houston at home last Saturday.

“This time of year, every game is going to be competitive. And if you think you are going to just show up, and go through the motions, and be successful, you are delusional,” Lloyd said. “We need to make sure every time we take the court that we are serving the game the way it should be served, and that’s with effort, energy, intelligence, all that stuff.”

BYU (18-8, 9-6) is looking for a Q1A win that would almost certainly punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, while Arizona is trying to catch Houston (22-4, 14-1) in the Big 12 standings.

BYU crushed No. 23 Kansas 91-57 on national television Tuesday night, a night after the Wildcats won in Waco, and Lloyd and company obviously noticed.

“Obviously they had a great game plan that their staff put together. Their players executed it almost to…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/arizona-coach-talks-byu-big-173000470.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2025-02-22 17:30:00

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