If the ASU-UA men's basketball game appears a rivalry on the outside, UA coach Tommy Lloyd made it clear that he doesn't look at it that way.
For one thing, he says, he and 11th-year Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley have a good relationship.
"I honestly approach this game like any other game," Lloyd said Tuesday, during a news conference at McKale Center. "I don't make more of it. I don't look for bulletin board material. Nothing like that.
"I just look at it as another game on our schedule ... one of 18 games in our conference schedule. I understand people on the outside might get emotional, but I don't think that helps us perform better."
Arizona, which will host ASU on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., is 8-1 against ASU since Lloyd took over the Wildcats before the 2021-22 season, though the only loss came at McKale Center during the 2022-23 season when Desmond Cambridge hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater to give ASU an 89-88 win.
Arizona State players chase guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. (4) down the court after his buzzer-beater from beyond half court gave the Sun Devils an 89-88 upset win over Arizona at McKale Center on Feb. 25, 2023.
"We're obviously excited to play the game," Lloyd said. "We have a lot of respect for for Bobby and for Arizona State. We know how dangerous they are. We felt it firsthand many times before. So we're going to approach the game with that respect and and go out and try to play well."
ASU is led by guards Moe Odum and Anthony "Pig" Johnson, who have gained Lloyd's attention during scouting efforts.
"They play off each other. They're dangerous. They're shot makers, and they're both adept at getting fouled," Lloyd said. "They can kind of hurt you in a lot of ways. So not only is it going to take great effort from those guards, but it's just going to take great effort from our from our bigs being there to support them.
"You can't leave a guy out in an island. You need some help in those gaps to kind of reduce the operating space for some of those guys. So no doubt those two guards have our full attention."
No room for superstition
Asked how much the Wildcats discuss being undefeated heading into Wednesday's game, Lloyd said he "hadn't even thought about it." Arizona is 16-0, its best start under Lloyd and best since it went 21-0 in 2013-14 before standout forward Brandon Ashley suffered a significant foot injury in a loss at California.
"Thanks," Lloyd said upon being reminded that UA was undefeated. "It's like, what do you do when a guy's pitching a no hitter? Do you go up to him say, 'Oh, you're doing great.' I'm joking."
Baseball superstition, of course, requires that nobody mention such a thing when a no-hitter goes into the late innings. But Lloyd said no superstitions are playing a role with his team — dinners don't have to be the same or any other routines maintained just because it's working on the court.
"Absolutely not," Lloyd said. "Superstition has nothing to do with the game. The game's gonna have two zeros and a colon up there, and the ball is going to go up. That's what has to do with the game. The ball gets tipped. We're going to play basketball, and nothing before, any superstition stuff, has anything to do with it. People can do whatever they want for comfort. I have no problem with that but no, I got nothing for you."
Dressing the part
Lloyd was back in casual UA gear Tuesday after making a rare appearance wearing a blazer during his speech at the Arizona House of Representatives on Monday in Phoenix.
"Not normal," Lloyd said of his business attire. "But you get an opportunity to do something that's important to a lot of people, probably more important to a lot of people than it is to me, you don't want to be disrespectful.
"I have one hidden in the closet somewhere."
Lloyd said he decided to make the trip to Phoenix after Arizona House of Representatives speaker Steve Montenegro requested he give an Opening Day speech to legislators.
It was "kind of out of nowhere," Lloyd said. "I just got an email from the Speaker of the House asking if I wanted to participate. I figured as a citizen of this state and an employee of the government that I probably should accept. So that's what I did."
During his speech, which followed another from ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham, Lloyd told legislators that they had the opportunity to set a trustworthy culture that could help the state thrive.
"Culture is a buzz word, and I'm not going to go through my entire belief system today, but when you get an opportunity to do something like that, you want to represent yourself, you want to represent your program, and you want to talk about things you're passionate about and that you believe in," Lloyd said.
"We got a lot going on in our world today. And anytime you get a chance to talk to leaders — and I don't know a lot about politics, I'll be honest — but you want to make sure the people that are representing us have integrity, are honest, care about others more than themselves.
"I'm sure everything I said has been said before. But I wanted to make sure that if I got my moment in the sun, that those were going to be the things that I wanted to hang my hat on."
