While Arizona likely won’t have a 71-point win when it takes on the defending national champion Florida Gators next week, the Wildcats took full advantage of the opportunity against Embry-Riddle on Monday. Tobe Awaka finished with an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double in his unofficial season debut, while freshman Ivan Kharchenkov dazzled with 17 points shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Here’s everything Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, Awaka, and Kharchenkov said postgame following the Wildcats’ 113-42 exhibition win over Embry-Riddle.
Tommy Lloyd:
Lloyd on what he can take away from the game:
“I’m happy that all of our guys got an opportunity to play. We practice almost every day, so these guys really contribute to our program in a lot of ways. So I’m glad they got to get out in front of the crowd and and wear the Arizona jersey and McKale is pretty special. As far as evaluating it, we’ll go through, I’ll watch the first half, or the first 10 minutes, or something. And I know there’s going to be some things, because they made four threes basically before the first media time, ended up with six.
But I think that’s a great lesson for our guys, two ways. One, you got to come out from the tip ready to execute your plan. And you don’t ease into a game. Okay, so we got to do that. Two, teams sometimes make early threes, don’t panic, adjust. And I think they made two the rest of the game. And I didn’t feel like they had a lot of great looks after those first couple and so we’ll look at it from that lens. I think offensively, I felt like our guys did a better job today, obviously we were bigger and more physical than them, and taking advantage of that, and making a lot of simple plays.”
Lloyd on a different starting lineup than Saint Mary’s:
“Just trying to get some guys different opportunities. We’re not a program that really worries about who the starters are. I just thought it was an opportunity to get some guys from different minutes. Obviously, Tobe didn’t play last game, so I wanted to get him some early minutes. And wanted to give Braden some minutes at that point guard, early, but nothing much more than that.”
Lloyd on Arizona’s rebounding performance after some concerns following Saint Mary’s:
“There was no concern for me. Obviously, we had an important player not playing who makes a difference. I hope Tobe is available every game we play this year. That makes a difference for us on the glass. Secondly, I know Saint Mary’s is a great rebounding team. I told our guys, they were number one in the country in defensive rebound percentage last year.
So they have a really sound plan and how they defensive rebound, and you have to offensive rebound against them is you have to break down their defense, get them in rotations. And then you got to be relentless in your force and your pursuit of offensive rebounds. If you’re just half ass-ing your attempts, against Saint Mary’s you’re not going to get going to get a rebound. So I thought it was a great lesson for us to learn. We want to be a great rebounding team, and we understand that there’s an every possession mentality that takes.”
Lloyd on Mo Krivas and Koa Peat not playing in the second half:
“I thought the game was pretty well in control, and those guys are really important players for us. And I would have felt like I wasn’t doing the program justice by playing those guys had some freak accident happened.”
Lloyd on his assessment of Arizona’s perimeter shooting:
“Delly’s a pretty good shooter, right? Brayden’s a good shooter, right? I think JB’s made some threes in his life. It may not be his strength, but he’s done it. I think Ivan is capable making threes. Think Dwayne’s capable of making threes. So, I feel like shooting we’re going to be fine.
But again, I’ve always told you guys, we’re not trying to build a team here that shoots 30 or 40 threes a game. But I would like to shoot 33 free throws every game. To me there’s a trade off in this stuff. So, it all comes down to your values and what you value. And you know, we’re a team, I like threes. I have no problem with them, but I love free throws. I love layups.”
Lloyd on how he feels heading into the season with four freshman getting heavy minutes:
“I feel great. I feel right where we need to be. Obviously, I know we have a huge challenge coming up next week. I don’t think the success of our season, or Florida’s season, is dependent on one game on November 3, but I think it’s a great opportunity for both programs to get out there and really learn about themselves. Every season is its own journey, and we’ve kind of gotten through the initial stages. Now it’s time to play some games that count in the standings, so I’m excited.
I feel good where we’re at, and if we don’t play good on Monday, I’m still going to feel okay. We’re going to learn from everything that we do, and our goal is to get better, week by week, game by game, we’re going to keep a real simple growth mindset.”
Lloyd on what Sidi Gueye and Mabil Mawut have showed so far:
“They’re great. They’re really contributing, helping him practice every day. Sidi was banged up to start, so I’m really, really happy that he’s had a good run of good health, and I think that’s going to help his development. It’s going to help our practices. So, I love both those kids. They’re really special individuals that have great stories and hopefully the community in Tucson and University of Arizona gets to know those kids, because they’re really inspirational.”
Lloyd on Brayden Burries playing more at the point for Arizona against Embry-Riddle:
“Brayden is a really good point guard, but he’s also a really good two guard. So, he’s that kind of modern day combo guard. And, he could play with another point guard. He can handle those duties by himself. So, I think it’s important to make sure – we got to remember he’s a really good player, but he’s still a freshman, so we got to help him by giving him some different experiences. And the one thing he’s proven to me is that he’s a great learner.”
Lloyd on what Evan Nelson brings to the team:
“Well, Evan’s experience. He’s obviously an older guy. He has a lot of experience, but I think it’s a great story that you talk about a local kid who who grew up idolizing Arizona Basketball. I know he has a relationship with Kyle Fogg. Kyle was at practice a couple days ago, and that’s really cool. And that relationship goes back to the days when Evan was in his early teens, so that’s really cool.
I think that’s awesome stuff. So I know every day he comes to practice, he really understands and values what it means to put that Arizona jersey on. So I think that’s important. That’s a good culture driver for us, and Evan, listen, he’s a good he’s a good player in his own right. So, I think he’s going to have some really special moments this year.”
Tobe Awaka:
Awaka on returning to the lineup after missing the first exhibition game:
“Felt good – But, yeah, it was good to be out there. Last game was tough, seeing guys go to war and not being out there, so it’s hard. You work hard as a team throughout the whole summer, and obviously you want to be out there with your guys. So you know, I was glad I was able to fight with them today.”
Awaka on playing alongside Mo Krivas:
“I mean, it was fun. I love playing with Mo. We haven’t gotten through that too much last year, but this year, especially as a recent[ly as] in practice, and then obviously, today. I think it’s, he kind of helps me a lot my game, and I kind of do the same thing for him. So I think we’re a really good one-two combo, and I love sharing the court with him.”
Awaka on the challenges a two-big lineup with him and Krivas presents:
“I think defensively, some things change. I play more so on the perimeter, and then I think, he just creates so much gravity in the paint, in terms of him ducking in, posting up, things like that, [it] kind of makes things easier for me. And then obviously, if a team is keying in on both of us, guards’ gonna get wide open threes, cuts to the basket, things like that.”
Ivan Kharchenkov:
Kharchenkov on how the first two exhibitions went for him:
“I like exhibition games a lot, because you can finally play somebody else than in practice. I feel there’s no like, a good game or a bad game. It just counts as experience, playing with a new team, playing with new teammates. And you know, just finding the rhythm.”
Kharchenkov on the flexibility of his game to get downhill and score:
“Well, I think I can do a lot of things. I can be really flexible, be it shooting, be it going to the rim. I think my body allows it to do it. So I think it depends what we need. I can get it.”
Kharchenkov on watching the NCAA Tournament last season while he was playing professionally in Germany:
“Not really. We were right into the season. I think our early play-ins started at that point, and also it makes it kind of difficult when the games are at night with the time difference. So I know Florida are the reigning champs, but I didn’t watch a game or anything.”
Kharchenkov on playing the three and the four for Arizona:
“Sure, I was playing more the three position over there in Europe, but I feel like putting me at the four position can help the team out a lot, just rotation wise, and also makes it more difficult for the defense to play against me. So I think it’s also good for my game to improve, just to see how the four man has to move. Then when I’m going to be playing at the three, understand what the four is looking for, or the other way around. So I think that’s a good thing for me and for the team in general.”