NCAA Tournament: What Tommy Lloyd, Arizona players said after beating Utah State
Mar 22, 2026; San Diego, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd celebrates after defeating the Utah State Aggies during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images SAN DIEGO—Arizona closed as either an 11. 5- or 12.
5-point favorite against Utah State, depending on where you got your line, and won by 12. But despite leading the entire game, the Wildcats were pushed to the limit. “They create a lot of adversity, switching defenses and they kind of throw you out of your rhythm on offense a little bit,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.
“We weren’t as good in the second half of getting the ball inside and just obviously had too many turnovers. They amped up their pressure and their press, so I’m going to give them credit. ” Arizona struggled to put the Aggies away until late, mostly because of turnovers, but thanks to playing from in front kept the lead all night.
“You hang in there, hang in there,” Lloyd said. “You have a little lead you just need to make one or two plays in a timely fashion, and then you can kind of ride the game out. And obviously Brayden’s 3 was pretty big time.
And then JB had some great drives and foul pressure down the stretch of that last 10 minutes. And I thought Koa was really special in the second half and had to deal with some foul trouble. ” Our game recap can be found here .
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