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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 27: Caleb Love #1 of the Arizona Wildcats puts up a three-point shot against Kon Knueppel #7 of the Duke Blue Devils during the first half of a Sweet Sixteen game in the men's NCAA basketball tournament at Prudential Center on March 27, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Arizona men’s basketball is set to take on Long Island University on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. On paper, this looks like it should be an easy opponent for the Wildcats.
One of the many aspects of why this year’s team has been so successful is the mindset of respecting every opponent. Head coach Tommy Lloyd has said on many occasions that if the Wildcats don’t come into games with respect for their opponents then the losses will pile up.
With that being said, an “easy” opponent for Arizona has led to earlier than expected exits in past tournament appearances. It’s easy to overlook lower seeded opponents, but the Wildcats should not overlook anyone.
Here is a look back on previous Arizona tourney appearances under Lloyd, what went right and what went wrong.
2025
1st round: Arizona 93, Akron 65
Earning the four seed in the East, Arizona was pitted against Akron in the first round. After struggling from beyond the arch for most of the season, the Wildcats found their groove and hit 12 threes to move on to the second round.
Jaden Bradley and CalebLove combined for 35 points and hit five threes. A surprise performance from Trey Townsend, who had been struggling offensively, was needed to help overwhelm the Zips.
Add in a combined 22 points from Carter Byrant and KJ Lewis off the bench, the Wildcats were just too much of an offensive juggernaut for Akron.
Arizona dominated the glass as it outrebounded Akron 53-22. It also had 48 points in the paint compared to 20 for Akron. The win set up a classic Pac-12 showdown with Oregon for a chance at a Sweet Sixteen game.
2nd round: Arizona 87, Oregon 83
With nothing to lose, Oregon jumped out and attacked Arizona to take a 19-4 lead. However, the Wildcats responded with a 13-2 run to bring it within three and after all that it was Arizona who took a 42-38 lead into the half.
Arizona took a double digit lead in the second half but the Ducks never backed down. Getting the score to 81-80 with ten seconds left, the Wildcats forced Oregon to play the free throw game.
A 29 point performance from Love helped Arizona get to the second weekend in the tournament. Outside of Townsend, who reverted back to struggling offensively, the rest of the starters scored 12 points each. Lewis also contributed 12 off the bench.
Sweet 16: Duke 100, Arizona 93
In the third matchup between the two schools in the previous two years, Arizona took on the second overall seed Duke. Earlier in the season, the Blue Devils came to Tucson and left McKale with a 69-55 win behind 24 points from Cooper Flagg.
While Love was trying to extend his collegiate career, it was not enough. Even with 35 points, he could not counteract Flagg’s 30 points and Kon Knueppel’s 20 points.
Bradley had 15 points and Henri Veesaar added 13 off the bench. Duke outrebounded Arizona 30 to 27, but the Wildcats forced 10 turnovers to help keep themselves within reach for most of the game.
While most knew that the Blue Devils were going to be too much for Arizona, it was still a short appearance as far as expectations go for the Wildcats in the big dance.
2024
1st round: Arizona 85, Long Beach State 65
In Lloyd’s third season, Arizona took a trip to Salt Lake City and started its tournament run with a strong win against Long Beach State. The Wildcats were led by Kylan Boswell who scored 20 points.
All five starters for Arizona scored in double figures. UA shot 41.7 percent on the day while also hitting 13 threes.
The one deficiency for the Wildcats was that they did not excel in the rebounding margin. Long Beach State outrebounded Arizona 50 to 47.
2nd round: Arizona 78, Dayton 68
The Wildcats prevailed behind a strong performance from Love.
Love scored 19 points, while future Miami Heat players Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson scored 13 each. The Wildcats shot better in the second round game, shooting 52.8 percent.
The one thing that Arizona did not do well in this game was take care of the ball. There were 15 turnovers committed by the Wildcats. The Flyers also kept it close on the boards as Arizona only won the battle on the boards by four.
While Arizona had a 17 point lead at one point in the game, Dayton was able to cut it down to three with just under 12 minutes left. The Wildcats used a series of runs to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Sweet 16: Clemson 77, Arizona 72
In its second Sweet Sixteen appearance under Lloyd, the Wildcats poor shooting from three doomed them. Shooting 5-18 from the field, Love went 0-9 from behind the arch.
Overall Arizona shot 5-28 from three. The inability to hit threes was one of the reasons that the Wildcats fell.
Bradley’s 18 points off the bench helped to get the offense going, but Clemson’s Chase Hunter also had 18. Add in 17 from PJ Hall and it was too much for Arizona to overcome.
While it was able to tie it and take the lead at certain points in the game, Arizona was never able to take full control of the game, as it did all season. This ended up being Arizona’s second Sweet Sixteen loss in three seasons. Yet another earlier than expected exit for the Wildcats.
2023
1st round: Princeton 59, Arizona 55
On a day where everything that could go wrong for Arizona did in almost every facet of the game, Princeton took advantage of the opportunity for a shining moment in Sacramento.
The big men played well and it was the Wildcat guards that disappeared. The guards went a combined 9-27 from the field and 1-14 from three.
When it came to the final five minutes of the game, Arizona could not find the bottom of the net despite 22 points from Azuolas Tubelis and 13 from Oumar Ballo. The Wildcats were also outrebounded 38-37.
It was a season where Arizona would play down to their opponents and it did once again that day. Safe to say this was a season low in scoring. The loss was Arizona’s fifteenth first round exit in its 33 tournament appearances.
2022
1st round: Arizona 87, Wright State 70
In Lloyd’s first tournament game, Arizona was expected to take care of business. It did so with a powerful win over Wright State behind a Christian Koloko 17-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Benedict Mathurin led the team in points with 18, while Dalen Terry had 16. Overall Arizona shot 55 percent from the field and hit 11 from behind the arch.
The only flaw for the Wildcats is the fact that they let Wright State get to the line 19 times. Nonetheless, Arizona marched on to the second round.
2nd round: Arizona 85, TCU 80 (OT)
Fighting to get to the Sweet Sixteen, it took a legendary performance from Mathurin to help Arizona spring into the Sweet Sixteen. Scoring 30, he was a highlight waiting to happen.
The game tying shot from Mathurin was a near logo three. A potential game-sealing three in OT from Mathurin bounced high off the rim which allowed Koloko to jam it home and seal the win for the Wildcats.
Koloko finished with another double-double, scoring 28 with 12 rebounds. The flaw for the Wildcats was the fact that they shot 18.5 percent from three, only hitting five in total.
Arizona was also outrebounded 48-44, allowing 14 of them to go to Eddie Lampkin Jr.
No other player, outside of Mathurin or Koloko, scored more than 6 points. However, it did not prevent Arizona from advancing to San Antonio for a Sweet Sixteen game.
Sweet 16: Houston 72, Arizona 60
All season long, Arizona depended on its offense to win games. However, the Wildcats ran into a defensively sound Houston team, and as a result of that the Wildcats were sent home.
Terry finished the game as the leading scorer for Arizona with 17, going 6-9 on the day. All other players, outside of Larsson, shot below 50 percent.
Overall UA shot 33.3 percent from the field and hit 7 threes. The Wildcats never took the lead at any point in the game, always clawing close but never taking control.
Of the 14 turnovers committed by Arizona, the Cougars scored 24 points from those turnovers. The Wildcats also allowed 12 offensive rebounds, which turned into 19 second chance points.
In the end, Arizona could not find enough offense to win the game and ended a spectacular first year under Lloyd with a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
The loss to Houston started a long build for Lloyd in what his team required to try and go far in March. Becoming more physical and more defensively sound, especially since moving to the Big 12, have paid dividends.
This year’s squad hopes to take the program to its first Elite Eight in over a decade, and its first Final Four since 2001.
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