Tommy Lloyd Postgame Press Conference, Arizona at Kansas
Q: When did you find out Darryn Peterson wasn’t playing, and did you have to adjust anything?
Lloyd: Not really. Kansas has a lot of good players and a great coach. Playing them here, we knew it was going to be a dogfight no matter which guys were wearing the Kansas Jayhawk jerseys. Obviously, I’m sure they’re better with Peterson, but we felt like they were pretty good without him tonight as well.
Q: Did the Big 12 player availability report factor into that?
Lloyd: No, I don’t even look at that. You guys can dig into that.
Q: When exactly did you find out Peterson wasn’t playing?
Lloyd: Like 10 minutes before the game.
Q: How different was Kansas without him?
Lloyd: Kansas is a hell of a team. Let’s not make this about Darryn Peterson. He didn’t play because he was sick. They beat the No. 1 team in the country at home tonight. They did a hell of a job, and their coach did a hell of a job. That should be the story.
Q: How good was Flory on the defensive end, particularly guarding guards?
Lloyd: I wish he was guarding our guards. He really impacts the game at the rim. That game probably comes down to a couple things, and we didn’t finish at the rim well enough. Usually we’re really proficient there, getting fouled. It’s not very often we get out-free-thrown, and it’s not very often we don’t make a higher percentage of our shots at the rim. Kansas gets credit for that.
Q: You’ve praised this environment before. Was it at another level tonight?
Lloyd: It was awesome. Last year was really good. I don’t know how to compare the two — they were both awesome. It makes it really difficult to play, and you guys need to know it impacts the game. Their fans deserve credit, just like our fans do at home.
Q: What changed offensively in the second half?
Lloyd: Nothing crazy. I thought they weathered a few runs by us, then put their head down and drove the ball, got a lot of free throws. Bedunga threw in a couple hooks, picked up some loose balls, got to his jump hook and cashed them in. They weren’t making jump shots. These games are possession by possession. They made a run at the right time, got a little bit of a lead, managed it well and did a great job making their free throws down the stretch.
Q: How did the physical nature of the game in the post affect your bigs late?
Lloyd: We’re built for it. I honestly don’t care how the game’s officiated — we should be fine. We’re a physical team. There were probably missed calls on both ends. We just have to move forward. One of our first mantras is get tougher.
Q: You’ve dominated the paint most of the season. Was this a different level tonight?
Lloyd: Sometimes you come into these hard environments in the Big 12 later in the season, and that’s how it is. There’s no complaints. A lot gets to go in the paint. The refs aren’t going to guess on either end. If you want to win these games, you’ve got to deliver. You’ve got to play through physical contact, play through what you think are fouls and keep it moving.
Q: You said entering this stretch that a stumble could happen. Was this one you anticipated?
Lloyd: If a guy’s 38–0 on his home court on Big Mondays, it’s probably pretty hard to win here no matter what our record was coming in. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we’re OK with it. I’m not mad we lost. I can’t wait to get on that plane, get back home, and I feel like our season just started.