Arizona's dominant second-half performance against Purdue has earned them a trip to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years. dreams. Coach Tommy Lloyd trusts his players to embrace the moment in Indianapolis — and not be overwhelmed by it.
Arizona was so utterly dominant in the second half against Purdue on Sunday that when it was over, Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd could finally take a deep breath.
He could also spill the beans over a little brain cramp.
"I woke up this morning — this is a true story — and I thought, are we in the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight?'' Lloyd told reporters Saturday after the impressive 79-64 win over Purdue to earn a spot in the Final Four in Indianapolis this weekend. "The moment I thought that, I knew we were all right, because I knew we weren't making too big of a deal out of this.
"I know externally there's a lot of pressure and this or that. To be honest with you, we just wanted to get in the ballgame. We wanted to get in the ballgame, and these guys have done an amazing job of figuring it out. We got off to a good start. Then we didn't play great, but I thought Purdue played really well the second part of that first half. In the locker room at halftime, you have long halftimes. We've talked a lot about this with the guys, long halftimes, long time-outs. We can't let that disrupt our rhythm. We have to be the team that comes out with the most effort out of a timeout, in these three-minute timeouts or a 20-minute halftime.
"My talk to them, my little overall thoughts, was about what I thought we needed to do in the second half — and then those dudes were unbelievable. This is when we're at our best. I said, 'guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let's go kick their ass in the second half. All these dudes, I was literally a spectator like you were in that second half. That's what it felt like. I'm so proud of these guys for what they did, for our program, and obviously our community.''
Lloyd had been the head coach at Arizona for five years now, and he's had some very good teams. They've also underachieved, never making it past the Sweet 16 until this year.
They've only lost twice all year, and that came five days apart in February when they lost at Kansas and at home to Texas Tech. They had won 23 straight before then, including six wins over top-15 team.
And now they've won 13 straight again, with eight coming against ranked teams.
That national title — their first since 1997 — is within reach now. They play Michigan, also a No. 1 seed, on Saturday night. It's also their first Final Four since 2001, a long time ago.
Lute Olson turned Arizona into a national power, and Sean Miller had some big moments during his 12 years from 2009 to 2021, but he never made a Final Four.
Lloyd has done it now, but he's also well aware of the fact that he's building on the success that Olson and Miller started before him.
"His legacy in Tucson is so powerful. He's the guy. There's others before him, but he's the main catalyst to make our program the center of the community,'' Lloyd said of Olson. "When I got the job, I was, like, wow, people in Tucson really want to like their basketball coach, and it wasn't a contentious relationship at all. They want to love you. The reason they want to love you is because they loved Lute so much, and he meant so much to the community.
"Without Lute — and without Sean doing what he did for those 12 years he was here, I wouldn't be able to do what we did today. I fully understand that. Those guys, this is for them too. You know, I have no problem sharing the success of this team with the coaches that came before me.''