Chemistry, role acceptance helped lead Arizona men's basketball to Big 12 title

Not long after hopping off the long flight back from Connecticut in November, the Arizona men's basketball team, having shown what it could become with wins over three ranked teams in the early weeks of the season, had Tobe Awaka speak of the big picture.

The UA big man and fellow senior Anthony Dell’Orso, both transfers who started most of last season, were dealing with a move to the bench.

“I know a lot of people might tweet or comment, 'Oh, he's not starting — what happened?' “ Awaka said then. “But internally, we know what we're trying to build, the pieces that we have.”

On Monday, they had built the Big 12 champions. A team picked to finish fourth in what is arguably college basketball’s top conference this season beat No. 6 Iowa State 73-57 at McKale Center to clinch the conference with a game left to play.

A team ranked No. 13 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll ... that held the No. 1 spot for nine weekly polls and is now No. 2 behind only Duke.

Balance, size, strength, talent and role acceptance did it. Chemistry did it.

Maybe all that will earn Arizona a Final Four or even its second national championship but, regardless, the Wildcats have surpassed regular-season expectations because of what they built.

“Watching Tobe, the way he attacks it and the way he accepts that role … I think that's huge for our team," Dell’Orso said. “It takes out so much ego and so much selfishness and all those feelings that can bring a team down. Having a guy like Tobe that can just accept that so well and thrive off it has helped our team tremendously.”

Asked about winning a championship with Awaka, Dell'Orso and point guard Jaden Bradley, UA coach Tommy Lloyd spoke of relationships. All three seniors signed to return to Arizona shortly after last season ended, not even testing last spring's heated transfer portal market.

"For me, the transfer portal and all that NIL stuff, it's just a great litmus test for how you treat people," Lloyd said. "If you treat people right ... people are going to be attracted to it. Like-minded people are going to want to stay together."

Looking back to his role change in November, Awaka essentially went to the same place. 

“I didn't really look too far down this line, but I knew that if we put the right pieces in place, we could do something special,” Awaka said Monday, after collecting an almost typical 10 points and 15 rebounds against the Cyclones. “I just trusted coach to the max. I know his character as a person and as a coach, and there's nobody else coaching-wise I would want to put my trust in when it comes to that kind of stuff.

“He’s always looked out for me as a person and as a player, so I didn't really think twice about doing it.”

While Awaka had been a backup for two seasons at Tennessee before he arrived at Arizona in 2024, Dell’Orso had started all but his first seven games over two seasons at Campbell before he transferred in that same summer.

He didn’t know anything but starting.

“It's something I've never been through in my life,” Dell’Orso said. “I didn't know what to expect, but like Tobe said, we know coach, we know what the team has and what we can bring, and he trusts us. He doesn't care about what the stats say, or what like the lineup says, or anything like that.

“He just puts you in there and instills the most confidence in you and tells you to go out there and have fun and kill it. I think it’s been great for our team.”

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Maybe more than anyone on the roster, Dell’Orso had the sort of stretch that begs for confidence earlier this season. He went 5 for 27 from 3-point range (18.5%) over the month of January, despite going 3 of 6 at TCU on Jan. 10.

Over and over, Lloyd expressed confidence in Dell’Orso, no matter what questions media asked, no matter what the buzz was on social media. While the Aussie wing always expresses confidence, Lloyd's words might have reinforced it — or at least made him look somewhat prophetic.

“You've watched him struggle from up close this year, and I think somebody should be commended that goes through that, because we all go through tough moments in life, whether it's school or a job,” Lloyd said. “His (struggles) happened to be public in a place that really cares about basketball, and he hung with it.

“I told you guys, he was going to be at his best when his best was needed, and that's what high character competitors do.”

Dell’Orso was needed most when the Wildcats were coming off two straight losses last month, to Kansas and Texas Tech, and when forwards Koa Peat (lower-leg injury) and Dwayne Aristode (illness) both went missing at the same time.

Dell’Orso responded with 22 points in UA’s ensuing wins over BYU and Houston. While he injured his left ankle and foot in the final minutes against the Cougars, Dell’Orso returned three days later at Baylor and has been back in his customary reserve role since then.

Notably, Dell'Orso is shooting 40% from 3-point range since February began, while also showing an increased aggressiveness getting to the basket.

Against Iowa State, Dell’Orso had just eight points but was efficient, hitting 2 of 5 3-pointers, making the only two-pointer he took, and dishing four assists to only one turnover.

His final three assists helped the Wildcats take a commanding lead in the middle of the second half, setting up somewhat unexpected 3-pointers from Aristode and center Motiejus Krivas, as well as a short jumper from Krivas.

Bradley led the way on what was Senior Night, with 17 points in part from 9-of-10 free-throw shooting, while Krivas had 13 points and guard Brayden Burries scored 11. Even though wing Ivan Kharchenkov was scoreless and Peat had just four points, both Aristode and Dell’Orso had eight points while Awaka dominated the glass.

And that was just the offense. UA held the Cyclones to just 29.2% shooting overall, with Peat helping keep Iowa State standout forward Joshua Jefferson to just 12 points on 2-for-17 field-goal shooting.

“Koa didn’t have a great game today statistically, but I thought he really impacted the game,” Lloyd said. “He did a great job on Jefferson. But (Peat and Aristode) both had a little break, and you could see there was a freshness to them.”

The Wildcats were back in rhythm, the way they were during their conference-record 23-0 start: Krivas and Peat up front; Kharchenkov, Burries and Bradley on the perimeter; and Awaka, Dell’Orso and Aristode off the bench.

Because of that, they could have a lot more opportunities to keep going. A final regular-season game at Colorado on Saturday. Up to three games in the Big 12 Tournament, which they’ll begin at noon on March 12, and up to six games in the NCAA Tournament.

“I feel like people have a good sense of how much we like each other and how much we enjoy being around each other,” Dell’Orso said. “I think this team has a genuine care for each other, and you can see it on the court. No one cares about stats, no one cares about minutes.

“It's just pure joy for winning, and that's something we've been able to keep going strong all year.”