The Arizona basketball team just can't get over the hump when it comes to March Madness. on Thursday, Tommy Lloyd and his team fell short again in another early exit. Clemson moved on to the Elite Eight with a 77-72 victory over the Wildcats in Los Angeles, sparking reactions from plenty of fans as Arizona falls short again of a long March Madness run.
After the game, Lloyd spoke in depth about the Arizona basketball team losing earlier than expected and admitted their time is coming (h/t Matt Reynoldson).
“We had the ability to get to a Final Four and we didn't … There's probably 8 or 10 teams that could say that this year and only three or four of them will actually get to the Final Four and we were one of them…We're going to continue to build on that foundation…Our day in the sun will come.”
Tommy Lloyd discusses the loss.
"We had the ability to get to a Final Four and we didn't … There's probably 8 or 10 teams that could say that this year and only three or four of them will actually get to the Final Four."
Ends it with, "our day in the sun will come." pic.twitter.com/f3XquOvzTj
— Matt Reynoldson (@Matt_Reynoldson) March 29, 2024
The times lately have been rough for Arizona in March Madness. Last year, they fell to 15-seed Princeton in the opening round and in 2022 they lost to 5-seed Houston in the Sweet 16 despite the Wildcats being a 1-seed. Still, Lloyd says their time is coming, and Arizona fans certainly hope so.
This time, they fall to 6-seed Clemson as the Tigers make their first Elite Eight trip in 44 years.
Arizona players show support to Tommy Lloyd after loss to Clemson
The Arizona basketball team was in a great position to make a run to the Final Four, but Clemson outplayed them the entire game on Thursday. Tommy Lloyd was immediately gaining traction on social media with fans upset following another disappointing March madness run.
However, plenty of Arizona basketball players showed support to their head coach after the loss (h/t Matt Reynoldson).
‘Arizona players with a strong show of support for Tommy Lloyd. Oumar Ballo: “I don't think (those blaming him) are true Arizona fans.” Caleb Love: “It wasn't on him. He put us in position; he's not out there playing on the court.” Kylan Boswell: “For me, he means everything.”‘
Those are strong words from important members of the Arizona roster, which is certainly a vote of confidence for Lloyd despite some unfortunate results in March the past few years.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 24-7 record before losing to Oregon in the Pac-12 Conference tournament semifinals. Still, Arizona was a top-25 team all year long and had huge signature wins over Duke, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Alabama with losses against Florida Atlantic and Purdue among them.
The Arizona Wildcats are moving to the Big 12 Conference along with Colorado, Utah, and Arizona State. As such, they will face teams such as Kansas and Houston a couple of times during conference play going forward. But, despite another early exit for Arizona, the players believe in Tommy Lloyd, and the head coach has made a bold promise to the fans and program.
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