PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 14, 2024

Tommy Lloyd

Pelle Larsson

Oumar Ballo

Arizona Wildcats

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona - 70, USC - 49

TOMMY LLOYD: Good win. Just how we liked it. Drew it up perfect. We obviously wanted to establish ourselves defensively, not just because it was USC and how we played last time. Just because that's what you've got to do this time of year.

Our guys came out with a defensive mindset, and offensively we were able to settle into the game. When maybe things weren't coming easy we hung with it. So really proud of them.

Q. First half, they kind of made you play their style but you were able to survive it and in fact, had a 12-point lead. Can you talk about how much you are impressed with that?

TOMMY LLOYD: It's the game. And these games play out different. You can't like -- I'm joking when I say "it's how we drew it up." You can't script it.

So we knew they may not want to get up and down with us but you always want to test that. Coach can have a game plan and the players maybe don't execute it defensively on their end. We get it up and down in transition.

And they did a good job keeping the game slower but it came down to defense. We were able to get stops, stops, stops. And then kind of made a little run at the end of the first half to get a little separation. And then these guys did a great job at the start of the second half to extend that.

Q. KJ and Jaden combined for 24 points off the bench. There's been a lot of talk this year about the importance of the bench and the minutes they provide. But for them to be your leading scorers in this game, what's that say about the overall balance?

TOMMY LLOYD: It's awesome. They both responded because they didn't play good at SC. And I'm really proud of how they responded, especially in a game like that, with a team switching defenses, playing a lot of zone.

Maybe they're not players you think traditionally would play good against the zone, but they were opportunistic. You find some in transition, some late in the possession. You find some on the offensive glass.

I thought KJ in the second half really made a statement. Pelle picked up his third foul and KJ came in and made three or four plays in a row to basically help us grow the lead which was amazing.

Q. You said you guys were given a gift by SC after the loss last week. What were the conversations like with the team throughout the week and last night after seeing they were going to be your opponents?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, we were excited. These guys, they're more excited than I am because I have a coach's mind and you're always trying to analyze everything. These guys were ready to go.

And they did give us a gift. Late in the year, we were playing pretty good. We had wrapped up the Pac-12 championship. Maybe we let our guard down a little bit and got exposed, and our guys battled back.

It's kind of nice whether you can have a week of preparation when you're on edge a little bit. And I think we did that. I think it sets up well.

But you know what? Tomorrow, whatever time we play, you've got to be ready to roll because you can't assume anything.

Q. One of the things you talked about after the loss to USC was kind of the trouble that some of that zone defense gave you in the first match-up. This time it seems like you handled them a little better. Talk about the adjustments you made and what propelled you today?

TOMMY LLOYD: A lot falls on my shoulders. I took a step back. I realized that I haven't provided enough clarity for how we want to attack and how we want to play. And I was relying on these guys a little bit too much to figure out.

They're great players, and they have a great ability to figure it out. And when they're figuring things out we're way better than when I'm over coaching. I promise you that.

We had to put the pieces in the right place and kind of get a clear understanding of how we wanted to play.

Q. (Off microphone) as we know it?

TOMMY LLOYD: It means so much to people outside of our sphere, which is great, because those people, we draw power from them and energy.

But our deal is focusing internal, game by game. And we're not getting any more complicated than that. We'll let you guys get all sentimental about the last Pac-12 stuff, this and that, how many games -- I don't care about any of that. I want to know who we're playing tomorrow.

Q. Tommy, you talked about the week of practice and getting the stops early. What else was the difference, especially early just because that game there? Was it a fact of having that familiarity from just a few days ago or motivation, et cetera, different energy than you had Saturday?

PELLE CARLSSON: I think we just got a lot more stops. We were way more hungry on defense this time. We're obviously a real good offensive team it's defense we take pride in. I think it was just that. And then --

TOMMY LLOYD: We always try to make an excuse for our defense because we're a good offensive team. Guys, two out of the last three years we've been the number one ranked defense in the Pac-12. Do a little research. We're a good defensive team. We're a great defensive team, and we're going to get better.

Q. (Off microphone)?

OUMAR BALLO: Defense.

Q. (Off microphone)?

OUMAR BALLO: We're a more locked-in team, and we bought into the system and we just play good defense and stick to the plan defense.

Q. This team seems like they attacked you in a similar way that they did on Saturday and you came right back and punched them right back in the mouth. It's been a bit of the trend, where teams think they have Arizona figured out and they don't in the end. How have you noticed that? How did you respond to that?

OUMAR BALLO: Honestly, when you play a team back to back of course you can learn from your previous mistakes. We took stuff like that like serious. You can't do this mistake over and over again.

And they got us last week and this week we had a real opportunity to play against them. And it was a great test for us to see, like, how much we improved and how much we take pride in getting stop over stops.

Q. Just from a scouting perspective, looked like you guys had a really strong understanding of what USC was trying to do, with a lot of off-ball action and guards coming off screens. Perimeter players have played really well recently. Just from last match-up with them, in general, how did you guys kind of game plan that specific angle?

TOMMY LLOYD: You're going to think this is crazy, we didn't do one thing different. We just did it better. That's what it came down to. We just did it better. This time of year, you're not changing a bunch, just do it better, with more effort, more conviction, and we did that.

Q. I'm curious in general terms, how do you go about scouting the opposing teams? How does that work? Do you watch film of both teams at the same time, or how does that process where you've already seen these guys, how do you approach scouting and preparing for games in a tournament?

TOMMY LLOYD: Twofold. You've played these teams already in your conference so you have familiarity with what they do.

And the second thing is, you do what you do. You double down on what you do and what you do well and you stick to those concepts. This time of year, you've seen almost everything, and there's a lot of trends where teams are doing similar stuff. So you have a good footprint of what you need to do defensively. You've just got to go out and do it with great energy and effort.

Q. Tommy, how would you assess the overall progression of maturity dating back to when the team celebrated after the Pac-12 regular season championship?

TOMMY LLOYD: We've got a real mature group. We've got a group of winners, a group of dogs. But we haven't been perfect. But no one has. So it's about the next one for us and these guys are mature and they're winners, and there's no guarantee to what's going to happen, but I would expect our guys to play with great effort and energy tomorrow.

Q. Oumar does what he does, did it well today. Talk about his energy. He was all over the court today.

TOMMY LLOYD: When O plays like that -- and he has for a long stretch now. He's an absolute difference maker, a monster.

The way he was protecting the rim today allows us to play defense a certain way, the way he was rebounding the basketball, and then the way he was getting fouled and just his physical presence inside, he's a game-changer. Really proud of him, and I love that he's doing it on a nightly basis now.