Former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd takes Arizona to first Final Four since 2001: ‘Happy to win games for him’

SAN JOSE, Calif. – For the second time in his career, Tommy Lloyd will take on the Final Four in Indianapolis with a No. 1-seeded NCAA Tournament team.

Five years after traveling to Lucas Oil Stadium with an unbeaten Gonzaga team as Mark Few’s top assistant, Lloyd will make the trip for the first time as a head coach after his top-seeded Arizona team held off a strong first-half push from second-seeded Purdue to emerge with a 79-64 victory in an Elite Eight game at the SAP Center in San Jose.

The Wildcats (36-2) will learn their Final Four opponent on Sunday. Arizona will play the winner of an Elite Eight game between No. 1 seed Michigan (34-2) and No. 6 Tennessee (25-11) at 11:15 a.m. (CBS) in Chicago.

“I woke up this morning, this is a true story, and I thought, are we in the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight?” Lloyd said. “The moment I thought that, I knew we were all right, because I knew we weren’t making too big of a deal out of this.

“I know externally there’s a lot of pressure and this or that. To be honest with you, we just wanted to get in the ball game. We wanted to get in the ball game, and these guys have (done) an amazing job of figuring it out.”

Up until Saturday, the Final Four was one of the only major pieces missing from Lloyd’s impressive head coaching resume. An assistant under Few for 20 seasons, Lloyd won two championships in the Pac-12 Conference, one in the Big 12 and captured Associated Press National Coach of the Year honors within his first five seasons at Arizona.

Lloyd had a 146-35 (.808) coaching record entering Saturday’s game, but each of his first four seasons at Arizona ended short of the Elite Eight, with three Wildcat teams tripping up in the Sweet 16.

The Wildcats looked like a solid bet to make the school’s first Final Four appearance since 2001 after largely cruising in their first three NCAA Tournament games – a 92-58 opening-round win over Long Island, 78-66 Round of 32 win over Utah State and 109-88 Sweet 16 win over Arkansas – to set up Saturday’s West Region final with the Big Ten champion Boilermakers.

Lloyd cleared the first hurdle by making his first Elite Eight, but the next one was in jeopardy for a portion of Saturday’s game, as Purdue took a 38-31 halftime lead after making 7 of 14 shots from the 3-point line and getting 11 points from senior point guard and NCAA career assists leader Braden Smith.

The 51-year-old Arizona coach addressed his team at halftime, but Lloyd and the Wildcats’ coaching staff left the locker room with five minutes remaining to give players an opportunity to talk among themselves before taking the floor for the second half.

“I said, ‘Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now,’ ” Lloyd said. “You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let’s go kick their (butt) in the second half.”

Arizona controlled the second half, outscoring Purdue by 22 points while hanging 48 points on 16 of 31 shooting from the field, 4 of 9 from the 3-point line and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Freshman forward Koa Peat paced Arizona offensively with 20 points on 9 of 18 shooting and seven rebounds, but three other starters finished in double figures. Forward Ivan Kharchenkov had 18 points and eight rebounds while freshman Brayden Burries and Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley, a senior guard and former Gonzaga target, both had 14 points.

Arizona was coming off its most recent Final Four appearance when Lloyd was elevated to an assistant coaching role on Few’s staff in 2001. The Kelso, Washington, native spent 20 years on Few’s staff from 2001-21, helping the Zags make 20 NCAA Tournament appearances while cornering the international recruiting market – something that helped GU sign standout foreign players like Ronny Turiaf, Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura, Przemek Karnowski, Killian Tillie and others.

Lloyd took the Arizona job in 2021 under heavy scrutiny from Wildcat legends like Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas. Jefferson called the school’s coaching search “a debacle” and Arenas was vocal, saying the Gonzaga assistant didn’t “deserve (the job).”

The tune from Arizona players and others has changed over the last five years as Lloyd became the first power conference coach to win his league each of the first two seasons.

“Coach, he’s great,” Peat said. “Ever since he recruited me, it’s been nothing but love, and I’m just happy to be able to win games for him. Me and these guys, we want to win as many games as we can for coach because he deserves it. He won’t say it, but I think he’s the best coach in the country.”