Bennedict Mathurin, Tommy Lloyd stare down Wildcats' three-game trip ahead

If there were ever two guys built for a week-long Pac-12 road trip, it's Bennedict Mathurin and Tommy Lloyd.

Among the top players the third-ranked Wildcats will be bringing along for their first-ever three-game Pac-12 journey through California is Mr. Road Game himself, Mathurin.

Breaking out with 24 points at Washington State and 31 at Oregon State as a freshman a year ago, Mathurin this season has already dropped 30 points at Tennessee, 27 at Illinois and 29 at Oregon State.

“We stuck to the plan and I just happened to play really good in those three road games,” Mathurin said. “I’m looking forward to doing the same thing on the road.”

Confident, and unflappable.

Just like his coach.

“Let it rip," Lloyd said, while speaking philosophically about the week ahead.

Lloyd did not question the Pac-12 for not quickly rescheduling postponed games at UCLA and USC for the second weekend in January, which instead resulted in the Wildcats having to tack on the Bruins to the end of their weekend trip to the Bay Area.

Arizona will also have to return to L.A. at some other point to play USC, in another postponed game that has not yet been rescheduled.

“I mean, listen," Lloyd said. "It's not ideal, but it is what it is."

The Wildcats are hardly the first Pac-12 team to take a three-game trip.

While the league has wrapped tidy, two-game sets between Wednesdays and Sundays for decades, COVID-19 postponements last season forced Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State to take three-game trips that did not include their geographic rival (it is common for teams to play two-game road weekends before or after playing at their rival).

But Arizona's long trip comes despite the Wildcats not having a COVID-related issues of their own — their postponed games against UCLA, USC and ASU were all because of their opponents’ protocols — and it means they have to tack on the No. 9 Bruins to what is already a long weekend in the Bay Area.

Lloyd and his players are scheduled to leave Tucson in the late afternoon Wednesday, play at Stanford on late Thursday night, then hang around the Bay Area until a midday game at Cal on Sunday. Immediately after Sunday's game, they'll fly to Los Angeles, where they’ll wait until late Tuesday night to face the Bruins.

Oh well.

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"You know, L.A. is also not a bad place in mid-January," Lloyd said. “We'll take advantage of a little extra time down there.”

Of course, that isn’t to say Lloyd wasn’t concerned. It’s just that Lloyd said he’s used to taking some "daunting" December trips during his days at Gonzaga, which has to schedule difficult games early every season or risk being judged more heavily on results against weaker West Coast Conference foes.

Besides, the way Lloyd explained it, the Pac-12 ran into a bind this season. Unlike last season, when all one-game rivalry games were stacked together so as to create room early in those weeks for makeups, the Pac-12 opted for a traditional schedule this season.

Then the omicron variant hit, and every team in the league except Arizona, Cal and Utah has since paused for COVID-19 issues this season.

“It’s a complicated deal,” Lloyd said. “You get the schedules done way ahead of time and there was no COVID cushion built in. There's an opportunity to play the game but it just so happens to be after two road games. So you throw in a third road game.

"And, you know, let's let it rip. That’s how we're gonna approach it.”

Besides, the Wildcats already had a one-game road trip this season that might have felt like a three-game road trip.

Or at least one that wracked their nerves in the same manner.

On Dec. 10, the Wildcats' flight to Champaign, Illlinois, was diverted to Indianapolis because of low visibility at a time when tornadoes were tearing through the nation’s midsection. They were forced to take a tag-team of Uber and Lyft rides for a windy, white-knuckled two-hour drive over the state border, with the players arriving into town about four hours late.

Then, the next afternoon, Arizona recorded its best win of the season, 83-79, over a screaming near-capacity crowd at State Farm Arena.

“To be honest with you, the ordeal heading to Illinois might have helped us,” Lloyd said. “Sometimes there's nothing wrong with getting a cause or a situation to rally around. There's lots of ways you can bring guys together … and obviously, playing on the road provides lots of opportunity for difficult circumstances.”

Rim shots

• Lloyd said guard Kerr Kriisa has returned to practice and will be available at Stanford after sitting out last Saturday against Utah for what Lloyd said was an injury sustained while “horsing around” with teammates. “Status quo,” Lloyd said. “Back to normal.”

• Five-star class of 2023 prospect Mookie Cook of AZ Compass Prep included Arizona on a narrowed-down list of nine schools, according to 247Sports.com. A 6-foot-7-inch small forward originally from Portland, Cook also listed Gonzaga, Oregon, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan and Texas Tech.