5 takeaways from Arizona’s 92-58 victory over LIU in NCAA Tournament opener | Michael Lev

Here are my top five takeaways from No. 1 seed Arizona’s 92-58 victory over No. 16 seed LIU on Friday in San Diego:

1. (Almost) all business

The best thing that could have happened to Arizona was what took place elsewhere in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Fellow No. 1 seed Duke did not take Siena seriously, trailed by 11 at the half and won by only six.

No. 5 seed Wisconsin — a potential opponent for Arizona in the Sweet 16 — got upset by No. 12 seed High Point.

Fellow blue blood North Carolina blew a big lead and lost in overtime to No. 11 seed VCU.

Tommy Lloyd probably didn’t need to say a word to his team about locking in vs. LIU. The Wildcats saw for themselves what can happen if you don’t.

As such, Arizona came out with a businesslike approach, building a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the game. The Wildcats maintained their focus throughout the first half, passing the first mental test in what they hope will be a long NCAA run.

The second test came at the start of the second half. No lull detected. Arizona expanded its lead from 24 points to 32.

Then the inevitable happened. The Wildcats let their guard down a bit. Their energy waned. They got sloppy. Human nature intervened.

The Sharks trimmed 10 points off the lead. That stretch basically coincided with Motiejus Krivas sitting out with three fouls. Once he returned, all was well. About that ...

2. Mo or less

Kudos to the TNT trio of Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel and Stan Van Gundy for pointing out Krivas’ impact on the defensive end. Like Krivas himself, it’s immense.

With Krivas on the floor, patrolling and controlling the paint, LIU shot 1 for 10 to start the second half. While he sat, the Sharks made four straight field goals and shot 5 of 7 from the floor. They didn’t make another field goal with Krivas back on the court. By that point, Arizona’s lead had ballooned to 31.

Krivas finished with four blocked shots, the fourth time this season he’s had four or more. How many shots did he alter? How many drives did he deter? I’d have to watch the game again to give you exact totals, but it’s safe to say a lot.

For those of us who’ve watched Arizona all year, this is hardly a revelation. Krivas has been a difference maker on that end of the floor since November. He should have been the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

But swatting and changing shots wasn’t Krivas’ only contribution Friday. He made two gorgeous passes, the second of which prompted a comparison by Van Gundy to Nikola Jokic — you know, the best player in the world.

The first was a touch pass from the mid-post to Koa Peat, who was cutting to the basket. I don’t think it was a set play, but it sure looked like one. Either way, it showed tremendous instincts by the 7-foot-2 Lithuanian.

Then, in the second half, Krivas got the ball on the left block. He backed down and got double-teamed. Krivas’ counter? A behind-the-back bounce pass to Peat for a wide-open layup.

Bill Walton would’ve been proud.

3. Gotta hand it to him

The biggest concern entering Friday was the health of senior point guard Jaden Bradley — specifically the left hand and wrist that he banged up in the Big 12 Tournament title game against Houston.

Bradley had black tape around his wrist and white tape wrapped around the bottom half of his index finger.

If you weren’t paying close attention, you wouldn’t have even noticed. Bradley played like his usual self.

Bradley finished with seven points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and, critically, only one turnover. The lopsided score allowed him to play only 23 minutes, his sixth-lowest total of the season.

LIU didn’t put as much pressure on Bradley as others undoubtedly will. I wouldn’t be surprised to see future foes harass him in the backcourt and blitz him on pick-and-roll actions.

The one time the Sharks applied token pressure in the second half, Bradley seemed to have no trouble dribbling across the 10-second line with his left hand. He lost control another time but was able to get the ball back.

Unless the injury gets worse — which is always possible given how aggressively Bradley plays — I don’t see it being a problem moving forward.

4. Arc de triumph

So here’s the deal with Arizona’s much-discussed 3-point shooting, or lack thereof:

The Wildcats don’t need to make them to win. But if they do, their opponents basically have no chance.

We saw both sides of that coin against LIU. Arizona shot 6 of 10 from beyond the arc during a dominant first half. The Wildcats were 0 for 3 in the second half — but still outscored the Sharks by 10 points.

The offense flowed beautifully for most of the opening 20 minutes, and Brayden Burries was the primary beneficiary. He knocked down 4 of 5 3-pointers, most of which resulted from sharp ball movement and proper spacing. He also made one from the edge of the midcourt logo with the shot clock winding down. He’s that good.

What many of us — myself included — didn’t fully grasp earlier in the season is that it’s actually a good thing that Arizona doesn’t rely on 3-point shooting. It’s one of the reasons this Wildcats team is so consistent.

For most, 3-point shooting comes and goes. For the most part, Arizona takes that variable out of the equation.

It’s all about the paint for Lloyd’s teams, whether that’s drives by guards, post-ups by big men or behemoths like Tobe Awaka crashing the boards. Arizona had 16 offensive rebounds, 22 second-chance points and 50 points in the paint (to LIU’s 26).

That’s U of A basketball.

5. Offline, online

If anything could be nitpicked Friday, it was Arizona’s free-throwing shooting — which hasn’t been great lately.

The Wildcats shot 66.7% (22 of 33), the third time in the past four games they’ve been under 70%. The misses were ugly, including some that barely grazed the front rim and one by Dwayne Aristode (who was 0 for 3) that might have hit the backboard first.

It obviously had zero impact on the game — but it could in a closer game. And there will be closer games.

What can Arizona do about it? Put in more time in practice. Sharpen focus during games. Understand that every point matters.

Want some good news on the free-throw front? Peat, a sub-60% shooter, made 5 of 6. It wasn’t by happenstance.

Peat has slightly altered his form at the line.

I thought I had noticed something different during the Big 12 Tournament, so I watched him closely against LIU. Sure enough, Peat has positioned the ball a little bit more to the side, above his right shoulder. His motion, which had been choppy and awkward, has gotten smoother.

After going 0 for 2 from the line in the Big 12 semifinals vs. Iowa State, Peat has made 12 of his past 17 foul shots — 70.6%.

That’s a big deal. Opponents are going to send Arizona’s bigs to the stripe. The more they make, the smoother the Wildcats’ road to Indianapolis will be.