Hot-shooting Kylan Boswell, Arizona basketball out to avoid Thanksgiving trophy hangover

“Whether it’s guys being intoxicated off their success, or listening to the things people are saying about them, I don’t know,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said in Salt Lake City, after UA’s 81-66 upset loss last Dec. 1.

A year later, the Wildcats are coming off an Acrisure Classic win over Michigan State before more than five million Thanksgiving Day television viewers, after which they returned home with a trophy, enjoyed a late holiday meal at Lloyd’s house last weekend, watched themselves move up to AP’s No. 2 ranking over an extended break between games, and prepared for a response on Saturday against Colgate that will look like …

“I don’t know,” Lloyd said Thursday. “I’ll let you know at the first media timeout. You can come over and we can talk about it.”

Lloyd was joking about that part, of course. But he was dead serious in his ensuing statements, saying he’s always trying to find ways to improve, challenge and build confidence in his guys no matter what the next game is, no matter what the circumstance.

Maybe that will be the difference this time.

Asked about that Maui hangover in Salt Lake City last season, and if the Wildcats might have to be aware of anything as a result this time, sophomore guard Kylan Boswell said he didn’t think so.

Every game, Boswell said, is being approached the same now.

“I feel like coach Lloyd’s biggest thing for us this year is our culture,” Boswell said. “We have that set in place as a foundation, to where we can fall back on that. We know we are as a team, as a unit.

“Last year, it felt like the culture could have been better and I feel like coach Lloyd’s big philosophy has been making sure that that’s not an issue for us now. Now, everybody knows what our culture is, and everybody knows what to fall back to. I think those gaps and stuff won’t matter.”

Maybe that approach will help the Wildcats also smooth out a roller-coaster nonconference schedule that had them cram in five games over 14 days — including major matchups with Michigan State and Duke – but now has them playing only two games over a 22-day period.

Boswell said both of those scheduling paces seemed “a little iffy,” but that he didn’t mind either way and, besides, the Wildcats might need some recharging before the second half of December has them playing Purdue, Alabama, Florida Atlantic and taking their first road trip of the Pac-12 season. 

So for the Wildcats, it isn’t just about Colgate but about the near future as a whole.

“It’s nice to get a little break once in a while,” Lloyd said. “You try to cram a few games into November and… early Decembers are hard in college basketball — it just seems like you line up a bunch of tough games and you’ve got finals and (it’s) `Have you lost a couple games, have you won all your games?’ All the human nature stuff starts to set in. It’s always a lot to unravel.”

Nearly five weeks after Henri Veesaar injured his right elbow in a golf-cart accident UA initially feared could be season ending, Lloyd said the sophomore forward is “getting closer” but that no determination has been made if he might sit out the season as a medical redshirt.

“He avoided a major injury, which was good, and I’ve seen him shooting on the side a little bit and even jumping in a drill here and there,” Lloyd said. “But he’s not allowed to do contact or anything like that yet. So we’re just going to kind of take a wait-and-see attitude and make the best decision for Henri, the best decision for the program as we move forward.”

Since Veesaar hasn’t played in any regular season games yet this season, having suffered the injury over the last weekend of October, he is automatically eligible for a redshirt season. That allows UA to go well into Pac-12 play to decide if it is worth burning the potential redshirt once Veesaar is cleared to play.

A 7-foot power forward from Estonia, Veesaar began last season in UA’s regular playing rotation but fell out after New Year’s and did not play in six Pac-12 games. But he was expected to challenge for a rotation spot in the post this season.

ESPN’s updated mock NBA Draft on Thursday put Arizona guard Kylan Boswell at the top of the second round while inserting forward Keshad Johnson for the first time at No. 49.

In a post earlier this week about recent draft risers, ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony said Johnson’s stock has gained in November, with his toughness and experience showing in multiple plays down the stretch of UA’s wins over Duke and Michigan State.

“He has been a game-changer on defense by locking up the paint as a rim protector, sliding his feet switching onto guards on the perimeter, closing out on shooters with outstanding technique and bringing nonstop effort and physicality in the paint,” Givony wrote. “Johnson’s ability to body up big men, switch 1 through 5 and make plays at the rim as a drop or help defender positions him with ideal versatility for modern NBA defenses.”

Arizona has also benefited Johnson, Givony wrote, by playing a more wide-open offense that allows him more room to find baskets inside and find 3-point opportunities. Johnson is shooting just 29.4% from 3 but 70.6% from inside the arc and 81.0% from the line.

“His jump shot will be scrutinized by NBA scouts looking to project his offensive role at the next level,” Givony wrote, “but the fact that he has hit nearly one 3-pointer per game and is converting 81% of his free throws is a good start.”

Boswell has long been a prospect for the 2024 draft class. He was a five-star recruit in the 2023 class out of Champaign, Ill., via Southern California and AZ Compass Prep who opted to skip his senior year and play for the Wildcats last season.

While Boswell is now the ninth-best 3-point percentage shooter in the nation at 58.6% so far this season, Lloyd said the guard is also aware that it’s early.

“Obviously I’m really happy where he’s at but we’re six games into a long season so he’s not going to get a medal for playing well in the first six games,” Lloyd said. “You’ve got to continue to get better. He knows that and we’re coaching him that way.”

Similarly, though for an opposite reason, Lloyd looked at the long run with center Oumar Ballo, who  has made just 8 of 19 free throws (42.1%), a potential concern for a big man who draws 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes played.

“Oumar’s just got to hang with it,” Lloyd said. “He puts work in on his free throws. We’ll get him back on track with that. It’s one of those things that just doesn’t come as easy for him maybe as it does other players.

“But you’ve also got to understand you’ve got to tap into strengths, and one of his strengths is he gets fouled a lot. When he gets fouled a lot, other teams’ bigs are in foul trouble — and it’s always a good thing when the other teams bigs are in foul trouble. I really value that. So for me, I’m okay with how Oumar shoots free throws. I don’t really stress out about it.”