Despite all that scoring, defense made Arizona Wildcats stand out over first three games

Because Arizona averaged 94 points in three blowout wins to start the season, it’s already pretty clear that Tommy Lloyd’s uptempo, ball-screen-heavy offense is as advertised.

Maybe more so.

So by the time Lloyd ventured up to the interview podium Tuesday night, after Arizona smashed North Dakota State 97-45 to complete its first back-to-back 50-point wins in over a century, another topic dominated the conversation instead.

Defense. The suffocating kind that kept all three of UA’s opponents under 30% shooting.

“I love it,” Lloyd said of the questions. “I mean, you guys focus on the offense. I don’t. We practice more defense than offense, I promise you that.”

It’s true that Arizona’s first three opponents were all low-major teams, including a presumably exhausted bunch from NDSU that had just lost at UNLV by two points on Monday, and Lloyd tried to keep the hype in check.

“Listen,” he said. “It’s been three home games. It’s early in the year. I don’t think we need to anoint these guys the ‘90s Detroit Pistons.”

At the same time, Lloyd said the Wildcats were “on the way to being a great defensive team,” and the trend is difficult to ignore.

The Wildcats’ first three opponents averaged only 49 points per game while shooting 27.6% overall and 24.2% from 3-point range. In Kenpom.com speak, that’s the worst effective field goal percentage in the country — just 31.6% overall shooting from UA opponents even when you give 50% more credit for 3-pointer.

Here are five reasons behind why the Wildcats have been so dominant defensively:

1. Miller’s legacy

All five of Arizona’s starters were recruited by former UA coach Sean Miller, and all five started multiple games last season. And, as Miller made it known throughout his 12-year stint with the Wildcats, you don’t get on the floor if you can’t play defense.

“We have good personnel and it’s no secret Sean coached defense hard,” Lloyd said. “So I think there has been some carryover there with the effort and we’ve kind of adapted to the personnel a little bit. But they’ve been well-schooled, which is a good place to start.”

2. Lloyd’s offseason pickups

While the starters all return from Miller’s final team in 2020-21, the other four players averaging in double-digit minutes all are bringing unique defensive skills to the group.

Combo forward Kim Aiken was the Big Sky’s Defensive Player of the Year last season at Eastern Washington. Guard Justin Kier is a 23-year-old veteran who started regularly for three seasons at George Mason and one at Georgia. Guard Pelle Larsson was a part-time starter for tough-minded Larry Krystkowiak last season at Utah.

And sophomore Oumar Ballo is a 7-foot, 260-pound center who is, well, 7-foot and 260 pounds.

“You get a guy like Justin Kier and Kim Aiken... you’re adding pieces,” Lloyd said. “Pelle’s a heck of a defender and Oumar, now he’s in shape, he’s coming over and protecting the rim.

“You add those guys off the bench and there isn’t a big fall off defensively.”

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3. Extending on the perimeter

One different wrinkle in Lloyd’s offense versus Miller’s is that the Wildcats are extending slightly more on the perimeter defensively. It doesn’t hurt that they start games with long, athletic wings in Benn Mathurin and Dalen Terry.

Terry set the tone just 17 seconds into Tuesday’s game, stealing the ball from the Bison and converting it for a layup.

Before long, Arizona was up 11-0, and the Wildcats never really let up. They led 44-23 at halftime despite a three-quarter-court buzzer shot from NDSU’s Willie Guy, then kept pummeling the Bison in the second half.

“I feel like we have pretty good athletes,” Mathurin said. “We have good big men and wings and guards. We have great talents on the team. It’s just about adjusting and communicating.”

4. Rim protection

Even if they beat one of those UA perimeter defenders, the Wildcats’ opponents have found they venture to the basket at their own risk — especially when Christian Koloko is in the middle.

Koloko had five blocks each over the Wildcats’ first two games and another two on Tuesday. Ballo has blocked four shots, while forward Azuolas Tubelis has two blocks and three steals over three games.

“We can force them into the paint knowing that Oumar and Christian are probably, in my opinion, the best bigs in the country from what we’ve seen,” Mathurin said. “I just feel like we trust each other into sending (opponents) to the paint and knowing that it’s gonna be hard to score on them.”

Together, UA has blocked 18.7% of opponents’ shots so far, the 18th best shot-blocking percentage in Division I.

And all that’s just the recorded stats. What doesn’t go in the box score is the number of times an opponent changes a shot or intended play because of their collective presence.

“Rim protection is huge and it’s not blocked shots,” Lloyd said. “It’s rim protection — that guard breaks through your first line of defense, and he’s starting to get downhill and you make him shoot over a 7-foot guy. And even our other guys are contesting shots — all those guys are 6-6, 6-8, 6-10 Zu (Tubelis), Pelle.

“I mean, Kerr (Kriisa) is the only small guy we got and he’s scrappy. So we’ve got a good defensive makeup.”

5. The stands have energy

Maybe it’s intangible in a box-score sense, but a steal and a dunk may be having a more energizing effect on the Wildcats with 10,000 fans around them.

With COVID-19 concerns keeping fans out of McKale Center last season, the UA bench went out of its way to cheer wildly on big plays but the return of fans has created a much different environment this season.

While all of the Wildcats undoubtedly were told about the McKale Center crowds during their recruitments, Koloko is the only scholarship player who has been around long enough to have actually played in front of them before this season.

“Playing without fans for my freshman year (last season) was good, but as coming out a sophomore, playing in front of fans is really fun,” Mathurin said. “After you make a big play, the whole McKale Center jumps. It’s pretty fun to have fans back, just cheering for the whole team.”