SAN DIEGO, California — "The first game is tough," said Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd. "The second game is tougher."
Lloyd's 32-3 Arizona Wildcats meet a physical 21-12 TCU team that is coming off a 69-42 win in the first round against Seton Hall.
"We're a physical team too," said Lloyd. "I don't want anybody to mistake us scoring a lot of points for not being physical. We take great pride in being able to battle, physically, and tomorrow presents a great test."
Starting point guard Kerr Kriisa is again a gametime decision with a sprained ankle. He took part in pregame warmups in the 87-70 first round win over Wright State but did not enter the game. Kriisa and the four other starters were all recruited by previous head coach Sean Miller, who today returned to Xavier as head coach.
"I'm proud of him," said sophomore Dalen Terry. "He's proud of us. I talked to him numerous times throughout the year."
Arizona's current coach, Lloyd, issued a challenge to the fan base, who was somewhat late arriving in the first round win.
"Fans that are lucky enough to financially afford to come to this, they need to get out of their seats and bring it," said Lloyd. "They need to help us advance. That's my message to the fan base. Help us."
"We have to be in attack mode," said Terry. "It doesn't matter what city we are in. That's the point Tommy was making. It's March."
