Arizona clinched at least a share of the Big 12 Conference regular season title on Saturday, with its 84-61 win at home against Kansas basketball.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd told reporters postgame that it’s awesome to have reached that point, but noted the job isn’t done. Ahead of the season his team didn’t set a goal of tying for the championship, because it wants to see if it can win it outright. From his perspective, No. 2 Arizona wants to earn that title amid a monster of a Big 12 schedule.
Here are some more takeaways from what Lloyd had to say about the victory against the No. 14 Jayhawks (21-8, 11-5 in Big 12), according to the video of his press conference on the Arizona Wildcats’ YouTube page:
Tommy Lloyd highlights how Arizona’s home crowd stepped up
Lloyd praised how great the crowd was in Tucson, Arizona, and noted it’s generally very good. He doesn’t want to act like it isn’t. However, he also alluded to the potential of it being at that level consistently regardless of which team the Wildcats are playing against.
Lloyd is talking about being in that top tier of environments, and thinks it takes a little more intention from fans to understand how much of an effect they can have on a game. He also believes they’ll have more fun that way, too. What he saw in the game against Kansas was special, and he wants that type of community fervor to be a consistent presence for the state the Wildcats represent.
This was a game Tommy Lloyd anticipated people had been looking forward toward
Lloyd didn’t shy away from noting that this is a game he thought people were looking forward toward for a long time. He understands the magnitude of what it means when these two programs play, explaining it’s a testament to the history of each one. With the win, Arizona also got some revenge for losing on the road against Kansas earlier this season.
However, Lloyd detailed they also had to come into the game thinking it means just as much of the rest. In the Big 12 standings, it certainly does. While KU responded to Arizona’s early run, and made the game close in the second half, the Wildcats were still able to pull away for the win.
Tommy Lloyd shares his perspective on KU’s comeback effort
What Arizona’s ability to build a lead in the first half did, in Lloyd’s mind, was allow the Wildcats a chance to absorb a run from the Jayhawks. He praised how great Kansas is as a program, and coach Bill Self specifically, noting he knew KU wasn’t going to roll over. The challenge Lloyd made to his players on game day was to focus on how good they could be defensively, especially after struggling at times in a recent win on the road against Baylor.
Lloyd didn’t point to one thing in particular, that allowed Arizona to pull away in the second half after Kansas made its run. What he did say, is he told his team amid that stretch that they just needed to take a breath and remain steady. The Wildcats did that, on the way to a rout of the Jayhawks.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd reacted to beating Kansas basketball