It’s secure to say that Tommy Lloyd’s tenure because the Arizona Wildcats males’s head basketball coach is off to a formidable begin. But after his group’s highway victory over the No. 2 ranked Duke Blue Devils, it is also off to a historic begin as nicely.
Lloyd grew to become the primary coach in Division I history throughout everything of school basketball to defeat a top-three-ranked opponent in every of their first three seasons, as OptaStats revealed. It’s an unimaginable feat, which fits with out saying, but it surely additionally goes alongside with one other file Lloyd holds — his 61 wins over the primary two seasons as a head coach surpassed former North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge’s earlier high-water mark of 59 victories.
Looking again on the previous two seasons, the Wildcats defeated the No. 2 ranked UCLA Bruins within the Pac-12 title sport final yr. The yr prior, in addition they defeated UCLA when the Bruins have been ranked No. 3 within the nation, and for good measure, defeated the then-No. 4 ranked Michigan Wolverines earlier within the 2021-22 season as nicely.
It’s been a stellar first two seasons for Lloyd, even with the upset loss to Princeton within the opening spherical of the NCAA event final season. The Wildcats posted a 33-4 file in his first season whereas going 18-2 in convention play, and proceeded to submit a 28-7 file final yr with a 14-6 file in convention play.
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