Seven months later, Azuolas Tubelis is still unsure what to make of his disappointing performance at the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
“Personally, I don’t know what happened.”
“Maybe I was surprised,” he said, mulling over the increased physicality he faced against TCU and Houston. “Maybe I didn’t take it serious.”
March Madness, he learned, is a different beast mentally than anything he’s faced before.
Whatever the culprit behind Tubelis’ March malaise, he doesn’t want to feel that way again.
“I know I wasn’t good at all.”
Whether Tubelis can learn from the growing pains of his first NCAA Tournament experience and emerge as a tougher, more physical player will go a long way in determining whether this Arizona Wildcats team can advance further than last year’s squad.