Arizona men’s basketball blew a double-digit late second half lead in a disappointing loss to UCLA in Phoenix Saturday afternoon. Our recap of the game can be found here.
Below is what Tommy Lloyd, Jaden Bradley and Henri Veesaar said after the loss.
Lloyd on not using his last time out earlier in UCLA’s second half run: “Maybe I regret not using it earlier. I was saving it just for that last minute of the game. We’ve been in some close games, and we kind of hung in there with them, but we haven’t been able to get over the top. So I was just trying to see if we could save it and have it down the stretch. And, you know, we used it to ice the free throw shooter and kind of put up an end of the game situation. So I don’t think it was a waste of timeout. He made the free throws. We set up a play trying to get a three, and we thought they were going to foul, and we got up a look. So not wasted. But hey listen … They’re really good, you know, they press, but when they get you, it’s gonna get you in the half court. Really handsy. They took the ball from us today numerous times. We had 22 turnovers and we also called two timeouts, those scramble situations, those fall situations. So those are quasi turnovers, right? And then, you know, down the stretch of the game when you have a 13 point lead and you’re trying to nurse it to that way, but I think that you guys understand what I’m saying. You’re trying to figure out how to navigate down that end with one timeout. We made it a little tough. To UCLA’s of credit for putting us our backs against the wall and giving themselves a chance to come back.”
On his philosophy of calling timeouts: I kind of leave it to the players. I mean, we always value possession. We value possession. I’m not a guy that burns through a ot of timeout. So sometimes you save them for the players to deal with situations. So I don’t have any regrets for the guys doing it. We were in a battle and we put ourselves in position to come out on top and things aren’t coming easy for this team. We didn’t ask for it easy. So we just got to keep plowing ahead. That was obviously a tough day and a great atmosphere. You know, obviously we don’t feel great about it, but the sun’s going to come up tomorrow. The world keeps moving on. We got two games coming up this week, so we got to keep moving forward.”
On finishing the game eight and a half minutes without a field goal: “That’s tough. I mean, it’s really hard to weigh in. We had a good flow going there for a little bit. And things just kind of unraveled. Obviously with big Mo not playing we kind of are figuring out on the fly how this team is going to look going forward and trying to tweak some things. Maybe see this team has some other strengths. So I just didn’t feel like we had a great, maybe not the players’ fault, but I just didn’t think we have a great understanding of how we wanted to attack and play today, pressure situations. Obviously, we gotta continue to work on that and build that certainty and that identity within the guys now that it looks like Mo is going to be out for a little bit.”
On the team sticking together: “We’re battling. It’s not coming easy. We’re not gonna act like it’s everything’s going great and we’ve been where we’re expected. You know, everything just flow together naturally. We’re gonna have to fight for it. This group is going to have to fight. For one you’re dealing with some adversity. You know, where’s our confidence at? We have our certainties kind of in our back pocket. We’re gonna have to keep fighting for that and kind of establish that. Sometimes it’s not far off. I thought that second half we built, I don’t know, a 10, 11, 12, point lead, something like that. I thought it felt pretty good, I mean, it felt like, you know how we wanted to feel. And I looked up at the clock, and there’s a lot of time left, and I’m like hoping we can make another little run and so maybe we have a little more of a buffer to sustain that comeback from them. But, you know, it wasn’t in the cards today. I’m sure I’m going to go back and look at that thing. There’s going to be some coaching miscues. There’s going to be some situations where players were just a little bit tougher. But all in all, I think the most important thing is, and I know this is a cliche, but we gotta hang together. We gotta hang together, just because it’s tough we can’t splinter and that’s not easy to do.”
On the importance of Caleb Love’s contributions: Caleb gives us a really high ceiling. Teams have been playing well, and it hasn’t come easy for him either. We got to figure out why. What can we do to help him? Is it just, hang with it, hang with it, hang with it, support him, and then it’s going to figure itself out? Or are there tactical things we need to do different? But obviously Caleb’s a really talented player, and he’s proven. It’s just not coming easy for him right now.”
On leaning on Bradley more and UCLA’s defense: “I mean, the way they were playing, they were really aggressive on the sides, and we felt like we were getting some advantages. Those middle pick and rolls. And JB was kind of doing a good job navigating it. So UCLA is a team you would say move the ball. It’s not easy. It’s not easy to connect three passes against them. They’re sneaky, they’re denying, they’re handsy. So sometimes you play a team like that, you just kind of got to go a little bit more simple and maybe keep the ball centered a little bit more and one action, you know, draw one or two guys make a play out of it, and kind of go from there. It’s not necessarily a ball movement game. It’s more of a direct attack type game, and and it worked for stretches, and then it kind of went away from us at the end. I think we got a little tired maybe down the stretch. And I think we took a few threes that last three or four minutes. But if they make it, they look great. But I think we’re also in the double bonus. I think you gotta keep the game pressure on those guys. It just felt like we were hoping one of those threes would go in, rather than having a little more conviction how we’re going to put points on the board.”
On what makes UCLA’s defense effective: “They’re just really handsy. And they’re good in the gaps. A lot of them were, you’re throwing to the guy a ball in a tight window, and they’re attacking the ball, you know. And obviously they’re good at it, so they do a good job of swarming to the ball and make you play in uncomfortable, tight spaces.”
On Motiejus Krivas’ injury: “It’s a lower foot injury in the same foot. I don’t know if they have a final diagnosis yet.
On whether there’s a time table on how long Krivas will be out: “No. We don’t have a final diagnosis. They’re still working through all that.”
On whether it popped up in practice this week: “Yeah.”
On whether it could be season-ending: “It could be. All those things are on the table. I don’t know right now.”
On importance of conference vs. non-conference play: “I think it all matters. You know, our non conference, we didn’t go in with a light schedule. You know, the schedule is tough, and it’s been a tough go for us. And maybe some years you look at it, and if it went a little bit different, we’d be 7-2 and maybe you feel a little different but we wouldn’t be better. So we’re at where we’re at. We’re struggling. And I’m not mincing any words on that. And then I’m the captain of the ship, and I’m going to keep moving forward.”
On whether he feels better knowing Arizona will get plenty of resume opportunities in a tougher conference: “You know what makes me feel better? Winning. so that makes me feel better. So there’s no solace in anything we’re at where we’re at. And, guys, we’ve lost some really close games that, to use the old cliche, they can go either way. We gotta find a way to increase our margin for error and get them on our side. And that’s going to be the focus of what we’re going to do. We have a good Samford team coming in this week, in the middle of the week, and we know that’s going to be a challenge. And they’re a team that is known for pressing and doing all that stuff, and I’m sure they’re going to see 22 turnovers in their eyes. So we got to find a way to get a win in the middle of this week and then see if we can, we got Central Michigan coming in on the weekend and just see we got there. So we literally in a in true day to day mode right.”
Bradley on Arizona’s offensive struggles down the stretch: “Trying to read with the defense. UCLA did a great job taking us out of our offense and speeding us up. So credit to them.”
On not shooting late in the game: “Just trusting in my teammates and trying to try to get a great look. We had other players that were going. Henri was strong in the paint. Trey was going so just trying to get a great look. And UCLA that made it hard for us.”
On UCLA speeding Arizona up: “UCLA did a great job of turning things over. They’re like top of the country at doing that. And tonight, first half was kind of slower. Second half, they kind of sped us up a little bit. So that’s clear. You gotta do a better job of reading that and following possession and, at least trying to get a shot up.”
On whether UCLA’s ball denial makes it tougher to make passes or penetrate: “Yeah they do a good job speeding you up and then making quick decision. We made some bad decisions. But at some point we’ll have a little run and we made some great decisions. So look at the film.”
Veesaar on playing a career high in minutes: “My condition was good. It felt good to play a lot.”