The “rat poison” arrived on the McKale Center doorsteps on Monday, just as expected.
Now, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has to convince the Wildcats to stay away, to ignore the continued accolades that come with their rise to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, their first Top-5 appearance since 2017-18.
Three teams ahead of Arizona in last week’s poll lost over the past week, with Baylor and USC losing twice, and voters responded by elevating the Wildcats from No. 6 to No. 3, behind only top-ranked Gonzaga and Auburn.
Even Arizona’s own social media accounts blared out news of the Wildcats’ highest ranking since they were No. 2 early in the 2017-18 season, with a big “AP 3” graphic imposed on a photo of center Christian Koloko.
“CONTINUE TO RISE,” UA’s posts read.
Good for marketing, maybe. Not so good for the coach who has to deal with rising expectations at a time when the Wildcats are heading toward a potentially soul-defining road trip to play at Stanford, Cal and UCLA after having shaky moments in home wins over Colorado and Utah last weekend.
“As (Alabama football coach) Nick Saban would say, rat poison. Rat poison,” Lloyd said Saturday, when asked about the possibility the Wildcats could jump into the top three. “This team is just sitting around and everybody’s telling them how good they are.
“They’ve got to understand what makes them good. What makes them good is when they’re edgy, they got a chip on their shoulder, they play incredibly hard, they pay attention to detail, they take care of the ball. I feel like we’ve slipped a little bit in those areas and we’ve to fight to get them back.”
Part of the Wildcats’ slippage could be attributed to playing just one game over 22 days entering their game against Colorado last Thursday, thanks to COVID-related postponements of games at UCLA, USC and ASU.
Another could be the continued absence of forward Kim Aiken for unspecified reasons and, on Saturday, there was also the absence of guard Kerr Kriisa after Lloyd said he sustained a minor injury while “horsing around” with teammates during a pregame meal.
Lloyd said Kriisa would be available for practices this week and a road trip that begins Wednesday in advance of a Thursday game at Stanford.
Zu for two
Oregon’s Will Richardson predictably beat out Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis for the Pac-12 Player of the Week award Monday after leading the Ducks to upset wins at UCLA and USC, but there was no doubt about Tubelis’ value in the Wildcats’ 82-64 win over Utah.
Without Kriisa and with the team shooting just 1 for 12 from 3-point range in the first half, the Wildcats quickly turned more often to Tubelis.
“Our guys did a great job of hitting Zu on numerous rolls and then once Zu settled in, he was good,” Lloyd said. “He got surprised with some defensive rotations early but then after that, he kind of figured it out and played really well.”
Tubelis took 24 two-point shots against the Utes, hitting 14 of them while adding 4 of 6 free throws to total a career-high 32 points. Against Colorado two days earlier, Tubelis had 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting and eight rebounds.
He has scored in double figures for all but two games this season — at Tennessee (six) and against Washington (nine).
“We all know how talented Zu can be,” Lloyd said. “He’s had tremendous moments and tremendous games over the course of his time here. Sometimes he leaves you wanting a little bit more, but it’s also really cool to have a player, who when you need somebody to step up, can step it up to the level he did (against Utah), which was exceptional.”
Ball-o fire
While Tubelis and center Christian Koloko combined for 48 points Saturday, reserve center Oumar Ballo also made an impact over his 13 minutes, particularly during UA’s game-changing 21-0 run in the second half.
Over just 39 seconds, Ballo hit two free throws, blocked a shot by Utah’s Dusan Mahorcic, then tipped in a miss from Tubelis to give the Wildcats a 61-45 lead.
“I’m really proud of Oumar,” Lloy said. “He stepped into a high-level game and really was a difference maker. He deserves moments like that but he’s got to understand he’s responsible for making moments like that happen.
“That didn’t just happen by chance. That happened because he went out and made it happen and was really active defensively, and was posting up underneath the rim. He’s a force when he plays the right way. So hopefully that’ll be a confidence booster for Oumar, because we need everybody. We don’t have a huge margin for error, and when he plays like that he makes us better.”
Ballo said he’s enjoyed playing and with behind Tubelis and Koloko.
“It’s just fun,” he said. “They’re really good players, and they’re helping me every single day to get better as a player and also as a person.”
No fans at Maples
Arizona typically draws well at Stanford and Cal thanks partly to its Bay area alumni base, but the Wildcats won’t have that support on Thursday at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.
Stanford announced on Jan. 5 that fans won’t be allowed inside Maples until Jan. 28, a period when most in-person classes and campus gatherings are also prohibited.
“These short-term changes are intended to help us limit COVID-19 transmission during the current omicron wave and get us back to in-person academic activities quickly,” Stanford provost Persis Drell and vice provost Russell Furr said in a joint statement. “At the same time, we’re maintaining a baseline of other activities to support students’ mental health and resilience through this challenging period.”
The only spectators allowed Thursday will be up to 50 family members for each team, plus television personnel and other media.
At Cal, however, fans will be allowed to attend the Wildcats’ game on Sunday if they provide proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test (within one day for an antigen test and within two days for a PCR test).
