Tommy Lloyd on Arizona Wildcats' recently leaky defensive coverage: 'We need to step up'

Has the Arizona Wildcats’ defense really sprung some sort of leak? Was it overrated?

Now UA coach Tommy Lloyd may not be so sure.

Three days after saying Arizona’s No. 2 Kenpom ranking in defensive efficiency was an “absolute lie” after the Wildcats allowed Stanford to shoot 58.1% — the third time in the past five games UA’s opponent has shot 50% or better — Lloyd effectively shifted some of the blame off his players.

Meeting with local media Wednesday for the first time since Stanford’s 100-82 win over Arizona on Sunday, Lloyd interrupted a question about his defensive instruction philosophy to note what the Cardinal did well.

“OK, guys, stop,” Lloyd said. “You’re making a lot of it. We got our asses kicked last game by a team that was on fire. You know what? Going into that game, we were the second-rated defense in the country. So I don’t know if it’s broke. We’ll figure it out. And we’ll see how it is tomorrow. And if it isn’t (fixed) tomorrow, I just have to keep working on it.

“We’re not approaching it any different than we have before. We don’t need to get into philosophical deals and start questioning, ‘Well, do we start with a shell drill? Do we start with this ball screen coverage?’ Going into the game, we had the second-rated defense in the country, and we got torched. So now we need to step up and see where we’re at.”

Colorado and Utah, both appearing now to be the Wildcats’ top competitors for the Pac-12 title this season, are expected to be a pretty good test. Both the Buffaloes, who will visit McKale Center on Thursday, and the Utes have offenses rated in Kenpom’s Top 30, with big players who can shoot from range and guards who could challenge the Wildcats’ perimeter players.

But that’s personnel. Strategy is another matter. And Lloyd indicated he isn’t changing that.

“I mean, if we had the 202-ranked defense in the country, you could ask me any philosophical question you want,” Lloyd said, continuing his answer to the question about teaching defense. “Then you and I could go to Bob Dobbs, get out some napkins and we could talk about it. You can help me with how I want to start my base defense and I’d probably be all ears.”

Certainly, two days before the Stanford game, the Wildcats’ defense lived up to its ranking. They held the Bears to 26% shooting in the first half of a 100-81 win, going on a 20-2 run after just three minutes to pretty much put the game away right then and there.

On Sunday at Stanford, the Wildcats never held a lead.

“I just feel like we were ready and we came out to play in that Cal game,” guard Jaden Bradley said, “and in that Stanford game we just didn’t.”

Lloyd did say that “maybe our sense of urgency wasn’t enough” against Stanford but, again, credited the Cardinal.

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“They hit a lot of tough individual shots to kind of get going, and then we probably panicked a little bit defensively and maybe got too active,” Lloyd said. “Or (it was that) in every little adjustment I tried, they picked it apart and made a 3 at the end of it. You tip your hats to them. They played really well.”

Statistics say Arizona’s defensive performance against Stanford wasn’t a one-off. While Purdue did have star center Zach Edey attracting the defensive focus in UA’s 92-84 loss on Dec. 16, the Boilermakers shot 53.8% from the field. And while Florida Atlantic spread the floor with all sorts of guards, the Owls shot an even 50% in the Wildcats’ 96-95 double-overtime loss on Dec. 23.

Those efforts do not compare favorably to how UA held Michigan State to just 40.6% shooting in the Palm Springs area on Nov. 23, Wisconsin to 41.4% on Dec. 9 at McKale Center and Alabama to 33.8% in front of a largely pro-UA crowd in Phoenix on Dec. 20.

Although the UA defense rose up between losses against Alabama and Cal, the overall trend line is not in the Wildcats’ favor.

“That’s been a big emphasis in practice, just sharpening up our defense,” Bradley said Wednesday. “At the beginning of the year, we looked connected. We looked as one, and we’ve kind of been fading ever since. So that’s a big thing. And hopefully tomorrow it would all connect.”

The combination of coming off a tough loss, playing at McKale Center for the first time in nearly a month and the threat of what Colorado can do could bring out the best in whatever Arizona can offer now.

Certainly, Lloyd is hoping so.

While he embraced the return home for UA’s first game at McKale since the Dec. 9 win over Wisconsin, Lloyd said Wednesday he thought the Buffaloes were good enough to make Thursday’s game difficult no matter whether standouts Tristan da Silva (ankle) and Cody Williams (wrist) return from injury.

Lloyd also didn’t take any comfort in UA’s history coming off losses. Arizona has lost only 14 times in 85 games under Lloyd, and never twice in a row. In those 13 wins after a loss, the Wildcats’ average victory margin is 20.5 points.

“That’s a non-topic,” Lloyd said. “We got our ass kicked last game. We’re coming to play in a team that’s really good, and I knew they were going to be good all summer. Colorado’s got a great program, and they’ve got a really well-built team. It’s gonna be a real challenge.”

Photos: Stanford upsets No. 4 Arizona Wildcats to close out 2023, men's college basketball