The No. 2 Arizona Wildcats were among the Sweet 16 casualties on Thursday, as they suffered a 77-72 upset loss in Los Angeles to the No. 6 Clemson Tigers. After the game, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd admitted that the Wildcats simply were not able to make the baskets they usually make, leading to their downfall at the hands of the SEC program.
“I feel like some of them were good looks and shots we’ve made all season, and today they just didn’t go in,” said coach Tommy Lloyd, who was ousted in the Sweet 16 for the second time in his three seasons at Arizona. “To have that sort of shooting night and get yourself in the game where you have a position to win, and I think it’s incredible. And it just shows the resiliency and toughness of these guys.”
Tommy Lloyd Still Believes in the Arizona Wildcats Program
After another disappointing early exit from March Madness, the Wildcats are not exactly inspiring a lot of people back in Tucson. Still, Lloyd tries to sound optimistic about the outlook of the Wildcats.
Via Matt Reynoldson of KVOA News 4 Tucson:
Tommy Lloyd discusses the loss.
“We had the ability to get to a Final Four and we didn’t … There’s probably 8 or 10 teams that could say that this year and only three or four of them will actually get to the Final Four.”
Ends it with, “our day in the sun will come.”
The Wildcats have not made it past the Sweet 16 round since Lloyd took over as Arizona’s head coach in 2021. The last time Arizona made it to the Elite Eight was back in 2015 when the Wildcats were still coached by Sean Miller and had the likes of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, TJ McConnell, Gabe York, and Stanley Johnson on the roster.
Arizona shot just 37.3 percent from the field in the loss to Clemson. Caleb Love, in particular, was atrocious on offense, as he shot just 5/18 for 13 points. He missed all of his nine attempts from deep.
The Wildcats finish their season with a 27-9 record overall, which also means that Arizona has gradually put up a worse season each year with Lloyd at the helm. Arizona was 33-4 in 2021-22 and went 28-7 in 2022-23.
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