Tommy Lloyd used a fourth different starting lineup this season in the 96-64 Arizona win over Samford on Wednesday night at McKaleCenter. Wing Anthony Dell'Orso joined guards Jaden Bradley and Caleb Love and forward Tobe Awaka and Trey Townsend as starters versus Samford.
The five starters combined to be plus 96 in the Arizona win. That is an average of 19.2 per player. Dell'Orso had one of his three best games for Arizona with 14 points on 4-10 from the floor, 3-9 on three-point attempts and 3-4 from the free throw line with four rebounds and two steals.
Caleb Love had arguably his best game of the season. Love scored 23 points on 7-14 from the floor, 6-8 from the free throw line and 3-9 three-point shots with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Love's previous season high was 24 points on 7-18 from the floor in the loss to Oklahoma at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
During the radio broadcast, analyst Ryan Hansen mentioned Dell'Orso started to put an extra ball handler on the floor versus a relentless Samford press. The five Arizona starters combined to commit 10 turnovers. Awaka, Bradley and Dell'Orso each had two turnovers. Arizona committed only two turnovers in the first half.
Starting lineup change. Anthony Dell'Orso is now getting the start over Carter Bryant/KJ Lewis. pic.twitter.com/435DXSleTg
— Jason Scheer (@jasonscheer) December 19, 2024
Bradley, Love and Townsend are the only Arizona players who have started every game this season. Bradley and Love are likely to remain in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season. Freshman Carter Bryant should push Townsend at power forward as the starter.
The three frontcourt starters could be dictated by Lloyd based on matchups with opponents. Center Motiejus Krivas is out indefinitely. Awaka and Henri Veesar are likely to get the minutes at the vast majority of the minutes with Krivas out. Guard K.J. Lewish has also started six games for Arizona this season.
Arizona concludes its non-conference schedule on Saturday versus Central Michigan. TCU is at Arizona on December 30 in the first Big XII Conference Game for Arizona. Arizona moved up 17 spots to 32nd nationally in the critical NCAA Net Ratings with the win over Samford on Wednesday.