Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis hit just 2 of 7 shots in Sunday’s win over TCU. He played only 15 minutes, his lowest output since Jan. 25.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

SAN ANTONIO — Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd met with Azuolas Tubelis one-on-one this week to talk about the forward’s struggles Sunday against TCU and the importance of playing better in Thursday’s Sweet 16 game.

Tubelis, an All-Pac-12 First Team selection, played just 16 minutes — his fewest in a game since Jan. 25, when he played 15 minutes against UCLA after returning from an ankle sprain. He shot just 2 of 7 against TCU.

From the opening tip, Tubelis never got comfortable with TCU’s physical style of play. The sophomore turned the ball over a team-high three times in the first half and missed his first four shots attempts — two of which were layups.

With TCU playing Arizona close and having the edge in offensive rebounding, Lloyd opted to leave Tubelis on the bench for all but four minutes of the second half and all of overtime.

“A lot of times young, talented players like ’Zu hit a crossroads in their career,” Lloyd said during Wednesday’s press conference from the AT&T Center. “You start playing in these really high-level, high-pressure games, you’ve got to be able to perform. So I talked to him about that.”

It also wasn’t the first time Tubelis has seen his role decrease when matched against a more aggressive defensive team; he scored six points while also drawing four fouls in just 13 minutes in UA’s loss to Tennessee on Dec. 22.

Tubelis said Wednesday he understood Lloyd’s move in Sunday’s 85-80 overtime win, though noted he won’t let it deter him from his normal style of play.

“We won the game. So I’m happy for that,” Tubelis said. ”I keep practicing hard, and I will play hard tomorrow.”

When Arizona takes the floor against Houston — a team ranked third in the country in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive efficiency — Lloyd expects a different version of Tubelis than the one from San Diego.

“I think this struggle is good for him,” Lloyd said. “I think he’s going to be a better player for it.”

Lucky No. 24?

Maybe it’s purely coincidence, but Arizona is 3-0 all-time in games played on March 24.

Eleven years ago, the fifth-seeded Wildcats upset No. 1 Duke in Anaheim 93-77 behind Derrick Williams’ career-high 32 points. Prior to that, Arizona beat Oklahoma State in 2005 and Louisville in 1994 on that date.

Only in one of those instances though, did the Sweet 16 victory eventually lead to a Final Four appearance (1994).

‘No pressure’ on Arizona

Even with the distinction as a No. 1 seed and the most wins (33) among the remaining 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament, Christian Koloko doesn’t feel like there’s pressure on Arizona to live up to anybody’s expectations besides their own.

“There’s no pressure,” Koloko said. “We started the season, nobody was talking about us. Now we’re playing good. Right now it’s win or go home.”

Besides, Koloko added, Lloyd constantly reminds the team that if there is any pressure, it’s a privilege.

Riverboat Jay

Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose No. 2-seeded Wildcats face No. 11 Michigan in the other South Region Sweet 16 game Thursday, was asked about the last time his team was in San Antonio for a NCAA Tournament game.

Four years ago, Villanova beat Michigan 79–62 at the Alamodome for the program’s second title in three seasons. The night ended with the national champions going on a late-night boat ride down the city’s famous Riverwalk, several hours following the game by which point everyone — including Wright — had no energy left.

“We’re finally getting out of (the Alamodome) after doing the media. They said, we’re going to drive you to this spot, and you’re going to get a boat and go down the river,” Wright recalled. “At that time, I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. We are shot. We can’t do another event.’”

But as Villanova’s players and staff were loaded onto boats and paraded through the city, Wright changed his tune.

“It was one of the great experiences of our life,” Wright said. “You’re a national champion, you’re going down the river on a boat, and people are hanging out of trees and out of buildings, and the music’s playing. … It was incredible.”

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Contact sports producer Alec White at 573-4161 or awhite1@tucson.com.

On Twitter: @alecwhite_UA

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