No. 1 Arizona will try to improve upon its best start in the Tommy Lloyd era when it plays South Dakota State on Monday night at Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats (12-0) surpassed the previous best start of 11 wins without a loss in Lloyd’s first year as head coach in 2021-22 with its 107-71 win over visiting Bethune-Cookman last week.
Arizona will complete its nonconference schedule against South Dakota State (7-7) and begin its Big 12 schedule at Utah on Saturday.
“I’m happy we’re here, but we really haven’t accomplished anything yet,” said Lloyd, who is 124-33 at Arizona. “So let’s roll up our sleeves and be more excited about the challenges coming down the road.
“That’s what I’m excited about. I’m looking forward to South Dakota State. And I’m really looking forward to playing in the Big 12.”
Lloyd said he told his players to be careful during their week-long break in between games during the Christmas holiday.
“Our guys are hoopers, so I told them if they want to get in the gym and shoot by themselves — key word, by ‘themselves’ — I’m okay with it,” Lloyd said. “But they don’t need to be going to play with their high school team. They don’t need to be playing one-on-one with their brother.
“We don’t need any mishaps that way. We have a good thing going. Let’s stay healthy and keep it going.”
Arizona is averaging 89.6 points a game with three freshmen starters – Koa Peat, Brayden Burries and Ivan Kharchenkov.
Fifth-year senior point guard Jaden Bradley (13.4 points and 4.1 assists per game) has led the young group along with 7-foot-2 post player Motiejus Krivas, who is in his third season in the program.
Krivas (10.3 points, 8.1 rebounds), combined with power forward Tobe Awaka, has helped Arizona become second in the nation in average rebounding margin at plus-14.6. Florida, which the Wildcats have beaten, leads at plus-15.6.
Awaka is averaging 10.4 rebounds a game despite playing only 20 minutes a game as one of Lloyd’s top reserves.
South Dakota State has lost its last two games against Wyoming 87-72 at Sioux Falls, S.D., on Dec. 15 and at Milwaukee 88-87 on Dec. 19.
The Jackrabbits also lost at Power 4 school Oregon 83-69 on Nov. 12.
Bryan Petersen is in his first season as head coach at South Dakota State after serving six years as an assistant at the school. His team has four players averaging double-figure scoring, led by Jaden Jackson at 12.8 points per game.
Damon Wilkinson (12.3), Joe Sayler (11.4) and Kalen Garry (10.4) are the other leaders in Petersen’s balanced system.
“That’s what it’s going to take for every game we play this year — we need everybody when they step on the floor to make an impact to help us win and make winning plays,” Petersen said.
South Dakota State kept its only previous meeting with Arizona close at Tucson early in the 2019-20 season.
The Jackrabbits held multiple 10-point leads over then No. 14-ranked Arizona during the first half before leading 32-29 at halftime.
A 12-0 run by Arizona in the second half enabled the Wildcats to pull away to a 71-64 win.
