The Arizona Wildcats have come so far, so fast during the 2021-22 season that even coach Tommy Lloyd is a little surprised.
“From where we started to where we are now, I didn’t expect that,” Lloyd said Saturday, after the Wildcats beat Cal and cut down the nets for winning the Pac-12 regular-season championship.
“This is what I came down here to try to do. I didn’t have a timeline on it but, I guess, why not now?”
Picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 preseason poll, this year's Wildcats more than overachieved. They became the first team in Pac-12 history to win 18 conference game, won the regular-season title and — at No. 2 in the national polls — seem certain to be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament.
Here's a game-by-game look at Arizona's memorable 2021-22 season:
Dec. 5: No. 11 Arizona 90, Oregon State 65
What went down: Bennedict Mathurin scored a season-high 29 points and the Wildcats turned 20 Oregon State turnovers into 27 points on the way to a Pac-12-opening win in Corvallis. Mathurin's performance came one year after he scored 31 at Gill Coliseum.
He said it: "To be honest, I'm from Canada and Corvallis is pretty much the same as Canada, so I'll just say it's the weather." — Mathurin, on his success against Oregon State
Jan. 3: No. 8 Arizona 95, Washington 79
What went down: Washington's Terrell Brown scored a game-high 28 points in his return to McKale Center after playing for the Wildcats a year ago, but the UA — playing in its first game after a 12-day COVID-19-related layoff — was able to hold off the upset-minded Huskies in McKale Center.
He said it: “Terrell Brown was spectacular. But I told our guys, 'Listen, he’s a really good player. He’s got a ton of freedom and he’s got a ton of experience. He might win a few of the battles but our ultimate goal is to win the war as a team.’ Luckily, we were able to do that.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Jan. 13: No. 6 Arizona 76, Colorado 55
What went down: The Wildcats shot 50.9% from the field, held Colorado to 32.8% and outrebounded the Buffs 44-33 on the way to a lopsided win. Arizona shot 60.9% from the field after halftime.
He said it: "They had all five guys touch the ball" before shooting. We can learn from that." — Colorado forward Evan Battey
Jan. 15: No. 6 Arizona 82, Utah 64
What went down: Azoulas Tubelis scored a career-high 32 points and the Wildcats' defense kept Utah scoreless for over seven minutes during a game-changing second-half run en route to their 14th win in their first 15 games.
He said it: "They just destroyed us in the paint." — Utah coach Craig Smith
Jan. 20: No. 3 Arizona 85, Stanford 57
What went down: Oumar Ballo scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting while making 7 of 8 free throws, while Pelle Larsson had 13 points and six assists as the Wildcats won without Azuolas Tubelis, who suffered a sprained ankle.
He said it: "There's not a set formula every day. The game of basketball is crazy. There's a lot of moving parts -- injuries, scheduling, all these things that play into it. Sometimes you've just got to weather storms, and that's what high-character kids in high-character programs do." — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Jan. 23: No. 3 Arizona 96, Cal 71
What went down: Christian Koloko led the Azuolas Tubelis-less Wildcats with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Oumar Ballo added 14 points after dropping a career-high 21 at Stanford as the Wildcats won a classic "trap" game.
He said it: “I think you always have worries, right? But as Tom Petty said, most things I worry about never happen anyhow." — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Jan. 25: No. 7 UCLA 75, No. 3 Arizona 59
What went down: Arizona shot a season-low 30.7% from the field and allowed UCLA to hit half its shots, and the Bruins cruised to their sixth straight win over the Wildcats. Arizona's Kerr Kriisa was 0 for 12 from the field and committed four turnovers. UCLA had four players in double figures, with Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard each collecting 15.
He said it: “We’ve obviously had a really good start to the season and everybody’s excited. But there’s also a reality in this business. You’re not going to win every day. You play in a great conference and you play a great team like UCLA and you’re going to have some tough nights. The key is how do you respond?" — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Jan. 29: No. 3 Arizona 67, Arizona State 56
What went down: The Wildcats shot just 24.1% in the first half and missed all 13 3-pointers they took before halftime, but turned to defense, big men and a significant foul advantage to pull out an 11-point home win.
He said it: "Obviously, this game was a rock fight. I think both team shots 32%? I haven’t been a part of many games like that.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Feb. 3: No. 7 Arizona 76, No. 3 UCLA 66
What went down: Kerr Kriisa scored a team-high 16 points and Azuolas Tubelis added 14 as the Wildcats avenged their earlier loss to UCLA and vaulted to the top of the Pac-12 standings with a 10-point win at a raucous McKale Center. The UA slowed the pace and played tougher defensively than it had at Pauley Pavilion.
He said it: “We were thinking about it. But it was just a loss that happened.” — Arizona wing Dalen Terry
Feb. 3: No. 7 Arizona 76, No. 3 UCLA 66
What went down: Kerr Kriisa scored a team-high 16 points and Azuolas Tubelis added 14 as the Wildcats avenged their earlier loss to UCLA and vaulted to the top of the Pac-12 standings with a 10-point win at a raucous McKale Center. The UA slowed the pace and played tougher defensively than it had at Pauley Pavilion.
He said it: “We were thinking about it. But it was just a loss that happened.” — Arizona wing Dalen Terry
Feb. 5: No. 7 Arizona 72, No. 19 USC 63
What went down: Azuolas Tubelis posted a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kerr Kriisa added 13 points and Dalen Terry chipped in nine as the Wildcats completed a weekend sweep of the Los Angeles schools. Arizona held USC to just 34.3% shooting.
He said it: “I feel like in the beginning we were kind of soft, the whole team and me, too. Our offense basically starts from the defense. So we’ve got to get stops and we’ve got to get our spark. Defense is really important for us.” — Kriisa
Feb. 7: No. 4 Arizona 91, Arizona State 79
What went down: Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis both posted double-doubles, Bennedict Mathurin scored a game-high 18 points and the Wildcats overcame a 14-1 deficit to beat the Sun Devils by 12 in Tempe. UA outshot ASU 56.7%-42.3% and outrebounded the Sun Devils 48-26 while scoring 24 more points in the paint and 18 more on fast breaks.
He said it: "That’s a gut-check win against your rival when you’re down 14-1. You could just say it’s not your day. But our guys bounced back and I told them at one point we were gonna win this by 20. And we were right there to do that.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Feb. 10: No. 4 Arizona 72, Washington State 60
What went down: Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting, guard Dalen Terry had a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists and the Wildcats used a relentless defensive effort to beat the Cougars in Pullman. Arizona held WSU to just 34.2% from the field in Tommy Lloyd's return to his native Washington.
He said it: “We had a good time. It was really the first time I’ve been back, so it was great to see a bunch of friends. We met up with a bunch of people and had a really good night.” — Lloyd
Feb. 12: No. 4 Arizona 92, Washington 68
What went down: Bennedict Mathurin scored 25 points on 8-for-11 shooting, Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 and had 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 10 points and five rebounds and Dalen Terry tallied 12 points and seven assists to counter another big showing from Terrell Brown, and the Wildcats won handily in Seattle.
He said it: "One person cannot be five people and for me, I did not panic. My teammates, we knew we were going to come back because if (Brown) is the one (who) has to score 60 points for their team to win, that’s good for us because he’s not gonna do that. And we played good defense.” — Ballo
Feb. 17: No. 3 Arizona 83, Oregon State 69
What went down: The Wildcats got big performances from forward Azuolas Tubelis (22 points), Bennedict Mathurin (20) and Christian Koloko (16 points and nine rebounds) and, following a sluggish start, put away the Beavers in McKale Center. Coach Tommy Lloyd said he probably got a little "too tricky" with his gameplan early.
He said it: "Maybe human nature got us a little bit, but at the end of the day, if we're hemming and hawing over a 14-point conference win, we’re probably nit-picking a little bit.” — Lloyd
Feb. 19: No. 3 Arizona 84, Oregon 81
What went down: The Wildcats made two defensive stops in the final 25 seconds, "stuck to the plan" on both ends of the court and snapped Oregon's seven-game winning streak over the UA with a victory in McKale Center. Bennedict Mathurin scored a team-high 24 points and added seven rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats, who were visited by ESPN's "College GameDay" crew in the morning.
He said it: "I was proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to win a close game. We haven't had a lot of those." — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Feb. 24: No. 2 Arizona 97, Utah 77
What went down: Kerr Kriisa posted the Wildcats' first triple-double since 2004 and capped his career-high seven 3-pointers with a near-halfcourt buzzer beater before halftime, and the Wildcats beat the Utes by 20 in Salt Lake City. Kriisa's final statline: 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
He said it: "Just got my rhythm going and it’s pretty hard to describe the feeling. But when the shot goes in, you usually feel good. I feel like I really needed it for my confidence, too. It was really good confidence boost for upcoming games.” — Kriisa
Feb. 26: Colorado 79, No. 2 Arizona 63
What went down: Colorado outscored Arizona 9-0 during a late-game stretch and held on to upset the Wildcats 79-63 at the CU Events Center. Azuolas Tubelis led Arizona with 15 points and eight rebounds but Bennedict Mathurin went scoreless in the second half after scoring 12 before halftime, while the Buffs particularly made the night frustrating for center Christian Koloko.
He said it: "C’mon: You knew they were going to play better. Their program has had a ton of success and has a successful coach. They've got a ton of pride and he really challenged them and they were great.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
March 1: No. 2 Arizona 91, No. 16 USC 71
What went down: Five Wildcats scored double figures, with Bennedict Mathurin scoring 19 to lead the way and Kerr Kriisa adding 18, and the Wildcats clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title with a 20-point win at the Galen Center. The win clinched Arizona’s 17th won or shared Pac-12 regular season title and first since 2017-18, while giving coach Tommy Lloyd a championship in his first season at the Wildcats' coach.
He said it: "We took that (Colorado) 'L' to the head and we knew we had to fix some things from that game. But we weren't too down on ourselves because we know we could have played better. So we got back in the gym and adjusted." – Arizona guard Justin Kier
March 3: No. 2 Arizona 81, Stanford 69
What went down: Arizona trailed 39-37 at halftime and led by just two points with eight minutes to go before pulling away in the final five minutes to reach a double-digit margin. Bennedict Mathurin scored a team-high 24 points, and Christian Koloko added 21.
He said it: “We knew they were going to come in here hungry and that’s what they did. They came in here and they made all the shots.” — Koloko
March 5: No. 2 Arizona 89, Cal 61
What went down: Bennedict Mathurin took the opening tipoff for a dunk and the Wildcats didn't look back, cruising to a 28-point win over Cal on Senior Day. Following the game, the Wildcats cut down the nets, celebrating their Pac-12 regular-season title. Oumar Ballo led the Wildcats with 16 points on perfect shooting while sophomore Pelle Larsson was one of three players scoring 13 points and lightly used freshman Adama Bal had seven points.
He said it: "These dudes are unbelievable. What they gave me this year has inspired me to coach forever. They practice their ass off every day and they handle me being on them. It’s such a special group to be around. Guys, I love you now and forever.” — Coach Tommy Lloyd
