Arizona - 101, Cincinnati - 93
THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach.
TOMMY LLOYD: It was a great battle. Cincinnati, they threw a ton of punches and I felt like we had 'em on the ropes kind of numerous times over the course of that game and they kept battling back. Some of it was just mistakes made by us and other parts were just really good plays by them.
So tip my hat to 'em. They were a formidable opponent and to me it looks like they're going to have a great season.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for our student-athletes?
Q. You guys shot the ball really, really well, 62 percent, 8-15 from three-point range. What was the key to shooting so well?
COURTNEY RAMEY: I just think we got great looks. I think when have you Oumar and Zuo working down low, it kind of frees the guards up to get great looks. We attacked the paint early and Oumar and Zuo did a good job of putting points on the board early.
OUMAR BALLO: Well, just as he said, we just had, we dominated inside in the first half and that let our guards be a little bit free to get wide-open looks.
Q. Courtney, how did you feel out there for your first game for the season? And did it take awhile to get going? Certainly scoring-wise the second half really came on.
COURTNEY RAMEY: It was good to play with my teammates. It was good playing with them in practice too. It took me a minute just to get used to playing with them in a real game.
But they did a good job with being aggressive. I had some foul trouble in the first half, so I had to be a cheerleader in the first half. But they did a good job of just getting me going in the second half.
Q. For either of you or both of you, I don't know if you got to watch the first game, but your thoughts on San Diego State.
COURTNEY RAMEY: San Diego State's a great team. We're going to watch more film as we get back to the hotel. They're a good team. They played a good team in Ohio State. We knew every team in this tournament is going to be good so we just are excited to play them in this game.
Q. You talk about the runs and how you guys came back. That one run towards the end there, Courtney, you ran down the baseline for one, hit a couple threes. One of the threes you looked like you took a little dance out there having some fun. What did it feel like in that moment?
COURTNEY RAMEY: Coach always tells me to smile and show my personality. That's something different for me, so being able to do it now is pretty fun for me. But my teammates, they allow me to do that, allow me to be me. So that's how I felt, just being myself on the court.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, guys. Good luck tomorrow. Questions for coach?
Q. 52-26 in the paint and those guys, 62 percent from the field, 12-18, 8-11, 6-9. When three guys do that, that's a pretty good start shooting. What was the key to that?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, we love attacking inside out. You could see they were pressing and, you know, pressure defense. So I think the best way a lot of times to attack pressure defense is go right at it. We want to play north-south and I thought our guys did a good job, for the most part.
But you talk about the paint points, but I also see 17 made threes on the other end, and I'm just like, that's, it's, that's a staggering number and luckily we were able to overcome it.
Q. How about the beginning too? They pressed you a lot of times in the game, but the beginning it seemed like it really threw out of rhythm. Was it an adjustment period there?
TOMMY LLOYD: Hey, somebody said it yesterday, and I think it's a great analogy. It's a step up in weight class. So you get out there and you get punched a few times and you got to kind of stiffen up your chin a little bit and toughen up and get a feel for the game.
I thought our guys did a good job, for the most part. I think we were up 16 with three minutes to go and I probably got to do a better job managing that last three minutes to make sure that lead doesn't get reduced. But it did and I think we were up 10 and then I think we were kind of able to keep 'em pretty much at arms length the rest of the game, even though I never felt comfortable, just the way they were shooting the ball and I was just wondering if that next run was around the corner for them.
Q. Was there anything that struck you right away about the threes they were hitting?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, the thing that struck me is we had some poor defensive execution. And we're better than that. But, hey, it's easy to say it. Now we got to go do it. Obviously there will be some great teaching tools from this game, but unfortunately, there's not a lot of time to learn because we'll be here in a few hours.
Q. As you had a little bit of time to prep for Cincinnati, what jumped out at you about them? What concerned you going into this game about what they can do?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, what strikes out to me, what sticks out to me, is they play incredibly hard. If they shoot the ball, I mean, obviously, I wouldn't expect them to shoot 50 percent from three the whole season to make 17, but if they shoot a good percentage, they're going to be a tough out, especially the way they rebound.
I was impressed with their big guys today. I know we maybe statistically had an advantage there, but I thought maybe we could exploit them a little bit more than we did.
But offensively they delivered and they battled. At least, I haven't really dissected the stats yet, but it felt like they did. So they got a good mix. Wes is a really good coach. I'm sure, I mean, to me, that looks like and feels like an NCAA Tournament-type team.
Q. Wondering about your thoughts on working Courtney in that, back in the rotation, and how you kind of worked it out. Obviously kind of played a little less tonight. I don't know if that was part of the plan or the way the game played out?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, I think his minutes, I mean, whatever, the minutes, listen, that's going to be a work in progress. It's something that I got to get a feel for over the course of the year.
And, listen, they might fluctuate a little bit. But he picked up two fouls in the first half and then I put him back in because I trust him. But, again, he's got to deliver on that trust because he had, I mean, he had a handful of defensive mistakes that really just stood out to me in the second half. And he's just got to understand he's playing our system now. He can't makeup his own rules. He's go to, it's the old Bill Belichick deal a little bit, do you your job. If he does his job, which I know he'll do because he's high-character, great guy, it's really going to help him and it's really going to help our team.
Q. What are your thoughts on San Diego State? What kind of game do you expect?
TOMMY LLOYD: Dutcher, he's got it going down there. They got, they have a distinct style of play that they are recruiting to and they're developing. They do a really good job of getting veteran players and bought in to play a hard hat-type system. So we know it's going to be a physical battle. But listen, we welcome that challenge because those are the type of teams you have to play in the NCAA tournament and that's an aspiration for us and where we want to be as a program. So we're looking forward to the challenge and it's going to be a great test. And I don't know how it's going to end up, but either way we're going to have to make it a good thing for Arizona.
Q. After all your trips here as an assistant at Gonzaga and all that, curious how it was for you being in front of the Wildcat fans?
TOMMY LLOYD: It was loud. I felt like it was so loud in there I couldn't, like, I couldn't, you know, communicate with the players as well as I would have liked to. So that's something I got to figure out on my end to help those guys a little bit. Maybe that communication caused some of our mistakes. Listen, you got to get better as a coach too. But I just know that that place was loud. I feel like every timeout was loud. I feel like every made basket was loud. My head's still ringing.
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