Leading up to this season, Arizona Wildcat men’s basketball head coach Tommy Lloyd wanted to increase the margin for error for his program after losing to the 15th-seeded Princeton Tigers in the 2023 tournament.
They added Caleb Love, the Pac-12 player of the year, Jaden Bradley, who ran point for a top Alabama team. Keshad Johnson brought defense and an edge to the Wildcats after making the national championship with San Diego State. The ‘Cats returned a core of Kylan Boswell, Oumar Ballo and Pelle Larsson.
The ‘Cats were battle-tested. playing Duke, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Alabama and Florida Atlantic in the non-conference schedule, and winning the regular season Pac-12 title.
As a second seed on Thursday, their season ended early, losing to the sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers 77-72. The resumé, the roster, the constant work to prepare doesn’t matter if you’re not at your best on a given night in the postseason.
The fickle beast of March Madness reared its ugly head.
The Wildcats went 5/28 from beyond the arc (17.8%), hitting at a rate half as frequently as they had all season.
Three Wildcats hit the double-figure mark: Jaden Bradley posted 18 points, Oumar Ballo scored 15 and had 15 rebounds in 29 minutes and Caleb Love scored 13 on 5/18 shooting.
In three years under Tommy Lloyd, the Wildcats have posted an 88-20 record, but have yet to make it beyond the Sweet 16.
Tommy Lloyd couldn’t have done much more to set the ‘Cats up for a national title run. The pieces were put in place, but the dominoes didn’t fall.
Fair or not, no matter what the team accomplishes the other 11 months out of the year, the Wildcats – and Lloyd – will be judged off of what happens in March.
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