PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2024

Tommy Lloyd

Jaden Bradley

Pelle Larsson

Arizona Wildcats

Postgame Press Conference

Oregon - 67, Arizona - 59

TOMMY LLOYD: We just didn't get it done today. You've got to give Oregon credit. They did a great job hanging in that game and dealing with some adversity.

It's unfortunate for them, their best player or one of their better players goes down early in the game. But that kid showed some character and some toughness to come back in. And obviously he was a big difference in the game.

We had opportunities early to extend the lead and we didn't. And then we had opportunities in the second half to make a run and we didn't. So when you don't, that's the results.

So I tip my hat to Oregon and Dana Altman. They did a good job and they were the deserving team today.

Q. In the second half they outrebounded you by 10, you made a run. Could you talk about the few turnovers that were probably not needed, could you talk about those situations where you had a chance but just couldn't?

TOMMY LLOYD: They did a good job playing defensively with their hands, and they got their hands on a lot of balls where we maybe had a slight advantage. They were able to use their hands to knock the ball loose, and those are good defensive plays.

And then on the glass, you know, we just kind of got a little bit stagnant on offense. And guys were standing around. When that happens, it's usually hard to offensive rebound. And so they were able to control the glass at that end.

And defensively they were getting downhill into our chest. And then we just -- you shoot those shots. They're hard rebounds. And traditionally we've been really good at rebounding those close little floaters and stuff like that. We just couldn't seem to corral one today.

Q. During the time that Dante was out in the first half, you guys were able to make a double-digit lead. But with his return, there was a few offensive struggles that led to a nine-minute field goal drought that extended into both halves. Why was his presence able to disrupt the offense so much compared to the first two games?

TOMMY LLOYD: We just got stagnant. We got a little bit stagnant. Generally that's not us. When it happened, maybe we had a few shots we hope we usually make and we didn't.

And then he was kind of a force around the basket, protecting the rim and kind of raised a couple of layups. And maybe that got in the back of some of our guys' heads. But give him credit. They run their little matchup-to-man zone defense pretty well, and tonight it worked.

Q. Jackson Shelstad shot a couple of difficult 3s kind of going iso. From your perspective, trying to defend that was that a case him making good shots or do you feel you guys could have defended him better in those situations?

TOMMY LLOYD: I'll probably err on the side of him making good shots. They made a couple of 3s at the end of a shot clock. That's the recipe for an upset. Keep the game close, keep the game close, make a timely run. Make a few 3s at the end of the shot clock -- that seems to be a common theme, especially against us. Yeah, we probably could go back and hope we would have defended a little better, but those are big-time shots by a big-time player.

Q. This is the third game in a row where Caleb's kind of struggled a little bit. What do you attribute it to and what would you like to see for him to break out of it?

TOMMY LLOYD: Caleb's had a great season. We're trying to do the best we can to lighten the load on him and make sure he knows he belongs with us.

We love him. We love that guy. And he just hasn't played well. The one thing I know about him is he's high character, he's tough, he's a fighter. And I expect him to come back full force next week.

Q. With Kylan it's been trouble to get him a lot of catch-and-shoots in these two games here in Las Vegas. How do you do that more?

TOMMY LLOYD: The number one way -- there's two ways to catch-and-shoots. Number one, you move the ball. And, two, you've got to hunt them. I think Kylan's had some opportunities that I'm seeing that maybe he's maybe shot-faking himself out of a little bit. But those are Kylan's decision to make.

You trust your players to make decisions they're comfortable with and shoot shots they can feel like making. We'll take a look at that. But Kylan shooting the ball is usually a really good weapon for us. Hopefully we'll get more of that going forward.

Q. Season-low shot attempts for you guys. First time you've not put up 50 shots in a game this season. What do you attribute that to?

TOMMY LLOYD: Turnovers and a slow pace. Once they were able to kind of get the game at their pace, and that lead, they were able to kind of shorten the game. That's what good coaching, what that will do.

So credit goes to them. But we're going to have to take a deep look at that because definitely we want to -- we definitely want to get more shot attempts than 50.

Q. Couisnard had some great games against Arizona. Is there something in particular about his style of game?

TOMMY LLOYD: He's a physical guard that can get downhill. And he's confident going downhill and attacking our bigs in that ball-screen coverage. He's got the experience and the size to do it. And he's hit some tough shots.

So he's a really good player. I mean, obviously that's something we've got to look at going forward and see if we can have maybe a plan B up our sleeve.

Q. There's a theory that maybe because you're kind of locked into that No. 2, losing isn't that bad tonight? Or do you feel like some of these things you're talking about outweigh --

TOMMY LLOYD: We're a program that competes for championships. Obviously we came here. We've got a great fan base. We wanted to perform for them. And we weren't able to.

But as true competitors, we gotta keep our head high and go back and understand that the greatest challenges lie ahead. And there's going to be an amazing opportunity.

And the one thing I know about the character of our program is the guys respond. I'm looking forward to seeing their response.

Q. You said you made, after the USC loss, you said it could have been a gift. But USC -- similar mentality heading into the tournament?

TOMMY LLOYD: For sure. We're going to have to treat it as that. You play the hand you're dealt. And obviously we would have loved to have win today and win tomorrow. But that didn't happen. So I can't live in an alternative universe.

So we're going to go back and take a look at things. And I love this group of guys. We've had an amazing journey together, and I'm expecting the best times are ahead.

Q. Do you guys feel in general, maybe in a way, in a good place going in the tournament and that you're healthy? You get an extra day of rest here and some things to kind of stew on over the next five days?

TOMMY LLOYD: Sure, we're going to try to take advantage of all those opportunities. Like I said, we're playing the hand we're dealt. A loss, it an was unfortunate hand we were dealt today.

Q. We talked about, obviously under Tommy you guys haven't lost any back-to-back games. You just had the question about the gift of USC. Is there something for either of you that you take from this game moving into March, and how do you feel about the group and the response like Tommy said?

PELLE LARSSON: Yeah, they came out more aggressive first four minutes second half. We had moments to put a game away a little bit more in the first half. We didn't. And they outrebounded us.

Q. Oumar didn't take a shot attempt in the second half. What do you attribute that to?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, we've got to help him. We've got to help him find his opportunities. It's tough. We have a lot of success when he's upsetting ball screens. We have some success when he's down low posting up. Today maybe he got caught a little in between some of those.

He got the ball inside, I mean, on dump-downs and little things like that a number of times today. He's got to take advantage of the opportunities he gets. But getting him the ball more in better position is something that we can definitely take a look at.

Q. Do you just assume at this point in the year, based on the last three, four games, that teams are just always going to throw a zone or just throw a bunch of different looks at you guys?

JADEN BRADLEY: Definitely teams are looking at Arizona offense, seeing we're struggling. Coach is doing a great job putting in a plan. The next couple of days we have to figure out how we're going to attack the zone from now on.

Q. What do you believe the uptick in turnovers is the result of?

PELLE LARSSON: A lot of sloppy plays. Had a few on my end today where we are just trying to make hard plays when we don't need to. We have so many good players that we don't really have to try to make hard plays. We just take the easy ones and good things will follow. Just poor decision-making, I think.

JADEN BRADLEY: Coach gives us a lot of freedom, and we've got to do a better job taking care of the ball, turnovers. We have to limit those to help us win games for more possessions on offense.