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Arizona men’s basketball has clinched the Big 12 regular season title outright with a 73-57 win over Iowa State. On a night where the community celebrated the seniors, it was an ideal outing for the home finale.
Here is what head coach Tommy Lloyd as well as seniors Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso said following the win over the Cyclones.
Lloyd on the win: “Obviously, a great day for our program, a great accomplishment, but we want to keep it moving. I’m not going to make light of it and gloss over it, but we want to keep it moving. We want to play good Saturday at Colorado and kind of meet the standard, but the guys were great today. First off, I want to give credit to Iowa State. They’re a pain in the ass to play against. You can’t run your offensive stuff. They pressure you out of everything and then they’re so good at utilizing their strengths on offense. I thought our guys were really good defensively today, but, I mean, you really have to overextend yourself to stay ahead of those guys. So TJ is a friend of mine, and one of the good guys in this business, and I’m proud to compete against him, and he’s done a hell of a job there.”
On becoming a more physical team: “This team’s built that way. I think the narrative that we were soft is lazy. Look at our stats, look at our analytics. We’ve always been a great rebounding team. We’ve always pounded the paint like so if you want to just be lazy and not pay attention and say we’re soft because we’re on the west coast, be lazy. I’d love to play against you, because we know we got dudes, and we love this game, and I’m okay with this time of game, I have no problem with how it played out. If you want to compete at the highest level of college basketball, you better be able to go toe to toe with somebody. That’s how we’re built and I think we’ve always been built that way.”
On Motiejus Krivas’ development throughout the season: “He’s made a huge jump, this is his second year of college, really. He had the injury last year. The injury started in the summer, and we tried to get through it, so he didn’t really get a summer two years ago, and then we were nursing it during the season, then obviously his season ended, so he’s just finally getting experience. I’m really proud of him, how he’s impacted the game defensively. When I first recruited him, I thought he was going to be like a dominant offensive center and so I really talked to him this off season about, the offense is going to come but can you make yourself into a consistent defensive force and a defensive guy on the glass? He’s done that this year.”
On what Bradley, Awaka, and Dell’Orso mean to the program: “I know we can say this day and age things are different, but you know it doesn’t bother me that they’re different, because how you treat people matters, and when you have guys that stick around your program it’s because you have relationships with them, and there’s trust on both sides of that relationship. So for me, the transfer portal and all this NIL stuff, it’s just a great litmus test for how you treat people. If you treat people right, they’re gonna be loyal. People are going to be attracted to it and so like minded people are going to want to stay together. So I’m really proud of those guys. Jaden has been awesome. He’s had an incredible year, and Tobe has come so far in his two years. It’s tremendous. The only thing I’m disappointed about is I don’t get to coach those guys another year. I was lobbying for that fifth year deal, but I think I lost. Then Delly, you’ve watched his struggle from up close this year and I think somebody should be commended for that, because we all go through tough moments in life, whether it’s school or a job, his just happens to be public in a place that really cares about basketball. He hung with it, and I told you guys, he was going to be at his best when his best was needed. That’s what high character competitors do. So thank you to those guys.”
On Bradley’s growth as a player: “He had a solid freshman year at Alabama, and then he came here, and we really challenged him to get better, just as some of his techniques and packages and he’s done that. The staff can get some credit, but he deserves most of the credit because he’s the guy who’s put in the work and has been receptive to some of these things. What’s really cool is he’s kind of made him his own, and he’s not a robot. He’s not like a program player by us. He combined some of our teaching with some of his charisma and talent, and it’s turned out to be a great combination.”
On if Bradley had a chip on his shoulder from being left off preseason award lists: “I don’t think he had a chip on his shoulder. Guys, no one wants to be on preseason list. Who cares? We actually have to go out and play and coach, so we want to be on the postseason list. That’s what matters. I don’t know, maybe some guys that start on the list have a little head start, but I’ll tell you what, consistent performance speaks way louder than a preseason list. No one’s been a more consistent performer in the country than Jaden Bradley.”
On celebrating the Big 12 championship on the court: “We talk about vision a lot. What’s our vision, what’s our purpose? Vision, its imagery. We want to envision ourselves cutting down the nets. We want to envision hoisting that trophy. Don’t get ahead of yourself, then you got to dig into like, what do we got to do to get that, what’s the most important thing today? Let’s lock into our process, but to be able to do it at home and celebrate with our fans is really cool. When you move to a conference like the Big 12, you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Obviously I was like, bring it on. There is no one predicting the future, and for us to go out and do this in our second year. I think it says a lot about Arizona basketball. It’s not about me, it’s about the program, and it’s about the program well before me that gave us the foundation to do this kind of stuff, so we’re excited to carry on the legacy. We want a good day off tomorrow, and then we want to get back to it.”
On the difference between winning the Pac-12 and winning the Big 12: “That’s like asking to choose your favorite kid. Those, those Pac-12 ones were special, because we just got it started here. What it did, it created a foundation for what we could do as a program. It created belief. Those things matter. We have deep belief that we can be one of the best basketball programs in the country, consistently, but we know we’re going to have to fight for that. We know talk is cheap.”
On getting some rest over the next week: “It’s good, but now you got to take advantage of it. You got to take advantage of it. You can’t let your guard down. You got to recover, you got to strengthen, you got to get back in the gym, and you got to figure out what do we got to do to continue to improve. The best teams I’ve ever been a part of continue to get better week by week in March. They don’t rest on what they’ve done. We always talk about, as a program, we are always going to be more excited about what lies ahead, then protect what we’ve already accomplished. So we were excited to play at Colorado. I’ve went up there with a good team before and got smacked. I know how tough it is to play there, so trust me, it’s got my full attention. Obviously after that we get a few days off, and then we’ll see how that Big 12 tournament shakes out. So that’s kind of next on the horizon, that’ll be our focus.”
On Iowa State getting a lot of offensive rebounds: “They were disappointing. Thank God they kept missing, you know? We started out the game and we weren’t great on the glass. Our rebound instincts and habits weren’t up to it. We talked about it in a timeout, and I think we were able to flip it, but Iowa State’s also a really good rebounding team. They know where their shots are going to come from, and they have guys who know their job is to go in their rebound. Number 23, we obviously talked about their guys who could be an offensive rebounder and he had six, so easier said than done, but thank God, they didn’t make some of those shots and we were able to get more comfortable.”
On being able to go on runs: “What’s the old cliche? It’s a game of runs. There is a little truth to that. When you’re playing a good team, if you get up on them, from all the 1000s of basketball games I’ve watched over the years, there’s a good likelihood they can make a run back at you. When they make a run back at you, it’s really important not to buckle, not to feel bad, not to feel guilty that you lost the lead because there’s still a game to be played. The objective once you start the game is to win the 40 minutes, not to be up 16 eight minutes into the game, and then, let’s say four minutes into the second half, they go up, you can’t feel bad because you still got to win the game. So we talk about that all the time, just staying steady, getting into the next thing. Let’s be in the moment. The moment’s this possession, and then let’s try to create good opportunities for the next possession. We really keep it that simple.”
On being able to keep Arizona on the national stage since being hired: “I feel fortunate, I feel lucky, all those things, and I’m not good at counting big numbers. It’s really hard for me to count past one. So, I keep it pretty simple, but I’m happy. I’m happy the program has been successful. I’m happy for the community, because when I walk around town, when I go every once in a while, I snag a sonoran dog over a Momos, and I walk over there from here. It’s crazy how people are right now. Every car is honking and yelling at me, so sometimes I’ll just stay in my office because you don’t want to draw attention to yourself, but I’m just thankful that I get to represent this community, and I take that role seriously. I love this place, and what brings me joy is, we win and everyone embraces and feels good and smiles. That joy is really powerful.”
On Dwayne Aristode and Koa Peat getting back into a groove: “Dwayne was awesome, as good as he’s played all year. Koa, I don’t even think he had a great game today statistically, but I thought he really impacted the game. He had some great defensive plays. He did a great job on Jefferson. He’s a really good player, but those guys both had a little break, and you can see there’s been a freshness to them and we haven’t even been able to practice that hard the last couple of days. For them to come out and play like that, it’s really cool. Dwayne’s kind of had an up and down freshman year, like a lot of freshmen have had, but obviously he’s incredibly talented and for him to have that competitive character, it says a lot about him as a player and as a competitor.”
On the Big 12 tournament: “If you put us in a tournament, I guess I’m a sucker for it, I’m going to try and win it. I’m going to try to win it one game at a time. It’s not going to be much more complicated than that. We’re not going to go to Kansas City and just kick it so we can come back home a couple days early. If we lose, we’ll come back and we’ll regroup and get ready for the NCAA tournament. We keep it pretty simple. Let’s get through the Colorado game and then once we get to the Big 12 tournament and see how the bracket breaks, we’re going to be ready to play. I guess we don’t play until Thursday, so we’ll be ready to go Thursday and if we’re fortunate enough to get through Thursday we’ll figure out who we play Friday and hopefully keep it going. We’re excited for the opportunity, proud of what these guys have done, thankful for you guys, thankful for the community and let’s keep this thing going.”
Bradley playing his last game in McKale: “Just blessed to be in this position. Grateful for the coaches, the staff, everybody that’s been a part of the journey that helped to get me here and excited that we did what we did today, Big 12 regular champions. Just grateful for the opportunity.”
On Aristode’s impact on the game: “He’s always ready when his name is called. I feel like that dunk is probably one of the biggest players in the game. Just crash offensive glass and get the crowd going. So it definitely was a game changer.”
On advice he would give to the players that follow him after he’s done at Arizona: “Serve the game. Do everything the right way, and it’s going to treat you. Come to work every day. Find your older guy. Push him, he knows a lot of the tools and stuff. So just sponge, learn and just give it your all.”
On the difference between winning the Pac-12 and winning the Big 12: “I don’t remember that one a lot, but I remember this one. Big 12 is the best conference in college basketball right now, just doing it all with my brothers just knowing stuff we talked about before the season, it’s clicking. March is a special month in basketball. We still got a lot of room to go.”
Awaka on Iowa State being a tough team to play: “I think this league forces you to test yourself day in and day out, and there’s such a dynamic team for different play styles. So you’re gonna get tested all throughout and I think it’s a great sort of preparation period in the conference season for March as well. So I think we were taking some hits last year, but I think I’m just proud of the way that we bounce back and the way that we’ve been able to sort of galvanize as a group.”
On Krivas being a defensive force: “He’s a tremendous force, just the way he would move his feet at that size. He’s so strong, which I think is something underrated about him. He’s a force. A lot of the time he’s saving our behinds when we get beat. So he’s tremendous to have on this team, and sort of the unsung hero of this team. He’s been a rock throughout the whole season, I feel like he should get his flowers more. Obviously he’s coming off injury last year, and just the way that he’s able to work and grind to get himself to prepare for the season, and just to grow and build throughout the whole season. It’s been incredible to watch, and it’s just a testament to it.”
On enjoying the moment but not forgetting what lies ahead: “I think it’s just mostly staying in the moment, appreciating it and don’t take it for granted. Obviously, we get a ring, we get to cut nets down, we get to do it on our home floor, but don’t get drunk off the feeling. You still want the big one, but this is one of the milestones you’ve been looking forward to since the beginning of the season. So, you know, I think we should give ourselves a pat on the back, but don’t get stuck in the moment.”
On his favorite game he’s played at McKale: “I think the one that comes to mind is when we played Iowa State last year, Caleb hit that shot, that’s probably the loudest McKale has been since I’ve been here, another white out game. So I think that was a really good environment to be a part of.”
On if this stretch of games is going to prepare them for March: “That’s the whole thing about playing the Big 12. It just gets you ready for March. I think during this last stretch, you played some pretty aggressive teams that were still trying to get you in the beginning of the game, trapping the ball screen, super handsy on defense. I think that that bodes well for March. We’re in high level environments. Crowds are going crazy. We’ve been tested, I think we’ve been trapped before. We’ve been swarmed before, we’ve been doubled in the post before. So I think we’re just building the repertoire to make our best push in March.”
On sacrificing a starting spot this season: “I didn’t really look too far down this line, but I knew that if we put the right pieces in place, we could do something special. I just trusted in coach to the max. I know his character as a person and as a coach, and there’s nobody else coach wise I want to put my trust in when it comes to that kind of stuff. He’s always looked out for me as a person, as a player, so I didn’t really think twice about doing that.”
Dell’Orso on having Aristode back from sickness: “He’s great, obviously, what he went through to be able to step up and come in against one of the best teams, it’s pretty special. Big plays and got the crowd going and that was exciting to see.”
On not losing confidence in himself: “I think it’s credit to my teammates. Firstly, they’ve never lacked belief in me, or confidence, and that’s another credit to this team. Whether I’m playing good, bad, whatever, these guys will always understand what I bring, and vice versa for them. That’s something that has helped me through the year, the ups and downs. Coaches put the work in just staying positive. I know what I can do. I know how good I am at certain things, and just trusting it. Some nights go, sometimes it doesn’t, you can’t get so down, you can’t get so up. It feels great, obviously. It feels unbelievable, and to keep winning. I think that’s the best thing. When I can have a stretch where it wasn’t the best and we’re still winning, that’s the best feeling. That shows how good we are. It can be anyone’s night, any night. It makes it really hard to scout us, because we have so many guys that do so many things. That was the best thing. I can sit here and be in a hole but we’re still winning. So like, I gotta be the best teammate.”
On sacrificing a starting spot this season: “It’s definitely interesting, because it’s something I’ve never been through in my life. So I didn’t know what to expect, but like Tobe said, we know coach, and we know what the team has and what we can bring, and he trusts us to the max with that. He doesn’t care about what the stats say, or what the lineup says, or anything like that. He just puts you in there, and he instills the most confidence in you and tells you to go out there and have fun and kill it. It’s been great for our team. I think watching Tobe, the way he attacks it, the way he accepts that role, and he’s able to turn it into his own thing. I think that’s huge for our team, and it takes out so much ego and so much selfishness and all those feelings that can bring a team down, so a guy like Tobe that can just accept that so well and thrive off it’s helped our team tremendously.”