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SAN JOSE — As Arizona faced its first deficit of the NCAA Tournament and just its fifth halftime deficit of the season, a players-only halftime meeting supercharged a second-half rally on Saturday, which helped propel the Wildcats to the Final Four.
Arizona trailed by seven at halftime — matching its largest halftime deficit of the season — after being out-rebounded 20-15 and allowing Purdue to shoot 7 of 14 (50%) from 3-point range.
With a longer-than-usual halftime ahead, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd wanted to make the most of the extended break.
Associate head coach Jack Murphy opened the break by showing the Wildcats some film before Lloyd entered the room and told the team what needed to change: rebounding.
“Just stay calm. Get the (offensive rebounds). Box them out. Don’t do stupid mistakes and just keeping going possession by possession and just play steady,” Arizona center Motiejus Krivas said when describing Lloyd’s message.
“The message to the guys from me was, like, ‘Stay steady, let’s work ourselves back in the game,'” Lloyd said. “We’ve been great at the start of the second half. Then we’ll go from there.”
With the long intermission still taking place, it was then time for Lloyd’s light bulb moment to commence. Lloyd and his staff stepped out, and the message became the players’ to own.
“This is when we’re at our best. I said, ‘Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let’s go kick their ass in the second half,'” Lloyd said.
Lloyd said he had previously used the tactic with success “probably four or five times this year,” including during a few timeouts and a couple of halftimes.
“Coach always has these things they want to talk about,” Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso said. “We watch film. We kinda get a quick few pointers, but something this coaching staff does is they leave and they say, ‘You players figure it out.’
“And they all leave the room, we all talk about it and we’re always positive and we’re always just saying, ‘Let’s go. Let’s figure it out. We’re good. We’re gonna win this game.’”
As Lloyd left the locker room, Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Ivan Kharchenkov and Krivas led the discussion.
Arizona freshman Ivan Kharchenkov explains what made the difference for the Wildcats in the second half against Purdue.
Kharchenkov scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, as Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26. pic.twitter.com/aI9p22nNdZ
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) March 29, 2026
“(They) told us to keep going,” Arizona freshman Koa Peat said. “You know, we’ve been through adversity this season. Can’t get too high or too low. Just stay even keeled. And we went out there and played our game and came out victorious. I’m just proud of the guys. We stayed together.”
Coming out of the half, the Wildcats went on a 13-5 scoring run in a span of just more than five minutes to take their first lead since the 4:28 mark of the first half.
“Our guys did a good job. They came out, and we tied the game pretty quick,” Lloyd said. “Then it’s a 0-0 game, and can we win it down the stretch? Then somehow, some way we were able to sustain that run.”
Arizona more than sustained that momentum and outscored Purdue 48-26 and out-rebounded the Boilermakers 22-16 in the second half.
Lloyd said he felt like a spectator.
“The most powerful thing in a team sport is a player-led program,” Lloyd said. “The coach, you have to help them navigate it, but when you can get the players to kind of own these moments, you are just so much better. You are so much better.”
Now that the season is beginning, you should be grinding the fantasy baseball two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition.
Each week, I will be giving you a breakdown of the two-start options for your fantasy leagues, broken up into the following tiers:
These are projected two-start pitchers and are subject to change, and they will with the season just getting going.
Let’s explore this week’s fantasy baseball two-start pitchers, ranging from must-start options to those you should probably avoid.
Max Fried (NYY) at SEA, at MIA
Edward Cabrera (CHC) vs LAA, at CLE
Chase Burns (CIN) vs PIT, at TEX
Ranger Suarez (BOS) at HOU, vs SD
If you drafted Suarez, you are most likely using him here in spite of tough matchups. I have some reservations with him this year because Boston’s infield defense is not nearly as strong as it was in Philadelphia, but he should still give you good ratios and plenty of win potential.
Ryan Weathers (NYY) at SEA, vs MIA
I have reservations about Ryan Weathers this year, but that has everything to do with health. He has never had a season in the Majors where he reached 100 innings, and I just don’t trust that he will this season. However, that is a problem for later, as Weathers is extremely talented and healthy right now.
Cody Ponce (TOR) vs COL, at CHW
Kris Bubic (KC) vs MIN, vs MIL
Similar to Weathers, I do not have much faith that Bubic can stay healthy for an entire season, but he is healthy right now, and he showed last year that when Bubic is on the mound and healthy, he is a fantastic starting pitcher.
Luis Castillo (SEA) vs NYY, at LAA
Castillo has been a top 50 pitcher or better every year of his career. Sure, the skills are beginning to decline, but he puts up great volume with good ratios and is protected at home. He has a difficult start to begin the week and an easier one to wrap it up, so you are starting him in most formats.
Jack Leiter (TEX) at BAL, vs CIN
Leiter has amazing stuff, but can struggle with command and control. He looked pretty good this spring and could be primed for a breakout this season. These are scary matchups versus two offenses that should be pretty good this season. I would probably roll with him in deeper leagues, but in shallower formats, you should have better options.
Mick Abel (MIN) at KC, vs TB
Abel is coming off a fantastic spring training where he showed amazing stuff and very good command and control. He has decent matchups here and should be in most lineups outside of the very shallow leagues.
Kyle Harrison (MIL) vs TB, at KC
Harrison was traded to Milwaukee in the offseason and looks like a new pitcher. He added a new pitch, and the results were impressive, posting a 24% K-BB%. He has two good matchups this week and, like Abel, should be in most lineups outside of shallow formats.
Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) at CIN, vs BAL
Ashcraft has great stuff and looked good in spring, but he has two tough matchups. Going to Cincy can be very scary, while the Orioles game is at home
Nick Martinez (TB) at MIL, at MIN
Martinez will be making his Rays debut this week, and while you usually want to target the Twins and their terrible looking team, it’s hard to know how the Rays will employ Martinez. He has experience being a starter and reliever, and the Rays have a history of using these guys as openers or followers.
Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) vs DET, vs ATL
I have been a Pfaadt believer for years, and just when that seemed like it might finally be coming to an end, he started to draw me back in with a fantastic spring training. That being said, these are two tough matchups, and while he is at home, it is pretty risky to use him here.
Justin Verlander (DET) at ARI, vs STL
Verlander is returning to the Tigers for one last run with them, and it is a fun story to watch. He was great down the stretch last season as well, but there is a bunch of risk to this one. He will get a lot of run support, but the Diamondbacks are a legitimately good team, and the Cardinals are more dangerous than they get credit for.
Chris Bassitt (BAL) vs TEX, at PIT
David Martin (CWS) at MIA, vs TOR
Parker Messick (CLE) at LAD, vs CHC
Aaron Civale (CHC) at ATL, vs HOU
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) vs BOS, at ATH
Bryce Elder (ATL) vs ATH, at ARI
Jose Suarez (ATL) vs ATH, at ARI
Chris Paddack (MIN) vs CHW, at NYY
Taijuan Walker (PHI) vs WAS, at COL
Foster Griffin (WAS) at PHI, vs LAD
Kyle Leahy (STL) vs NYM, at DET
Michael Soroka (CWS) vs DET, vs ATL
Tomoyuki Sugano (NYM) at TOR, vs PHI
Roki Sasaki (LAD) vs CLE, at WAS
German Marquez (COL) vs SF, at BOS
Adrian Houser (CWS) at SD, vs NYM
Landen Roupp (SF) at SD, vs NYM
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