Arizona had success right away under coach Tommy Lloyd with a free-flowing offense, big men who dominated the paint and tenacious defense.
None of that is working, at least consistently, as the Wildcats have struggled to open Lloyd’s fourth season in Tucson.
“This is not the product that we want to be putting on the court right now,” Lloyd said last week. “I think we’ve got the right guys — I know we’ve got the right guys — now we need to make it happen.”
Lloyd pushed all the right buttons during his first three seasons.
The long-time assistant to Gonzaga’s Mark Few led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years during his first year, a season that included 33 wins and a trip to the Sweet 16. Arizona won at least 27 games each of the next two seasons, both concluding with trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Expectations followed the Wildcats into this season thanks to a talented roster that included key returning players, proven veteran transfers and another stellar recruiting class.
The new group has yet to gel.
Arizona lost by 15 to No. 11 Wisconsin and scored just 55 points at home against No. 9 Duke to lose consecutive games for the first time under Lloyd. The Wildcats opened the Battle 4 Atlantis with a lopsided win over Davidson, but left the Bahamas wondering what happened after consecutive losses to No. 21 Oklahoma and West Virginia.
The second round of consecutive losses dropped Arizona to 3-4 and out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since early in the 2021-22 season, Lloyd’s first at the helm.
“We’ve got to (get) back as a program and do some soul searching and find some real answers to why we’re not being as successful as we’d like to be,” Lloyd said.
They could start on offense.
A hallmark of Lloyd’s teams, both at Arizona and as an assistant at Gonzaga, has been an efficient offense based on ball and player movement with crisp passing.
That hasn’t consistently been the case this season.
Among the nation’s leaders in assists each of Lloyd’s first three seasons, the Wildcats are tied for 122nd in Division I with 15.0 per game — 3.5 fewer than a year ago. Arizona’s offensive efficiency, among the nation’s best each of the past three years, is down to No. 28, according to KenPom.
Part of it is too much one-on-one basketball. The other is the play of Arizona’s big men.
For the first three years of Lloyd’s tenure in the desert, the Wildcats had athletic big men who could initiate Arizona’s inside-out offense and get out on the break for easy transition baskets.
Arizona’s bigs have yet to establish dominance this year.
Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka has been Arizona’s starting big man in six of the first seven games, but is more of a power forward than center. The 6-foot-8 junior has been dominant at times on the glass, pulling down 8.9 per game, but has been limited to 7.9 points.
Motiejus Krivas has been coming off the bench after he struggled with a sprained ankle early in the season. The 7-2 Lithuanian center has been Arizona’s most efficient offensive player, averaging 7.6 points while shooting 55% in 15 minutes per game, but Lloyd would like to see more from him.
“We’ve got to get our bigs playing better,” Lloyd said. “Our bigs have always been an integral part of what we do. They’ve got to create advantages for us.”
The Wildcats also have been waiting for Caleb Love to get going.
Last year’s Pac-12 player of the year gave Arizona a huge boost by deciding to return instead of leaving for the NBA and was named an AP preseason All-American. Love has had some good moments, but his scoring average is down nearly four points (14.6) from a year ago and he’s shooting 29% from 3-point range.
“I still believe we’re a good team,” Love said. “It’s early in the season, I’m not panicking. I hope my teammates and coaches aren’t panicking.”
It’s still early in the season — an entire first Big 12 season is still to come — so the Wildcats have plenty of time to turn it around.
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