After starting at their respective programs in 2021-22 and achieving a high level of success, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and No. 3 Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger will coach against each other Monday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Lloyd recently matched his former mentor at Gonzaga, Mark Few, by reaching 100 career wins the fastest among active head coaches, accomplishing the feat in 126 games.
Lloyd is 101-26 after Arizona’s 78-63 victory over visiting Colorado on Saturday.
Otzelberger is 87-37 at Iowa State and 186-100 overall in nine years, with previous stops at South Dakota State and UNLV.
The Cyclones (17-2, 7-1 Big 12) are coming off a 76-61 win at Arizona State on Saturday after outscoring the Sun Devils 43-21 in the second half.
Arizona (13-6, 7-1) also overcame a struggle in the first half against Colorado, leading just 33-31 before pulling away.
“I’m not going to make it as if our season hinges on Monday, but obviously it’s a great opportunity for our program,” said Lloyd, whose team started 4-5 this season before winning nine of the last 10 games. “We can’t even think about winning the Big 12, not yet. You’ve got to earn that right.”
Arizona’s play has improved because of role players such as guard Anthony Dell’Orso and post player Henri Veesaar.
Veesaar is averaging 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds over the last five games, including a 19-point, seven-rebound performance in a win over visiting Baylor two weeks ago.
Dell’Orso, a transfer from Campbell, had 20 points off a career-high six made 3-pointers in the win over Colorado.
“I’ve told Delly all along, ‘You’ve got to stay locked in and ready because there’s gonna be nights where I need you to be our leading scorer,'” Lloyd said.
Curtis Jones had a career-high 33 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals to lead the Cyclones in their win over Arizona State. Joshua Jefferson contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
Jones scored the last five points in Iowa State’s closing 19-3 run against the Sun Devils after scoring 18 points in the first half to keep the Cyclones in the game.
“I feel like I’m always looking to be that aggressive at all times, whether we’re struggling or not,” Jones said.
Iowa State and Arizona have only one day in between games after most of the Big 12 season has allowed at least two days to prepare for the next opponent.
“It’s a short prep, so this is also another preparation of what it’s going to look like in March (for the NCAA Tournament),” Lloyd said. “We’ve got a really, really, really good team coming in on Monday, a top-five team, and it’s going to be a really good challenge for us to see where we’re at.”
Otzelberger deemphasized the schedule being similar to the quick turnaround in March Madness.
“That’s not really how we look at it as much,” Otzelberger said. “We just look at it as this is the job that we have in front of us, and we need to prepare for this opportunity.”
–Field Level Media
