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Does Lloyd swap one of those high-ceiling players into his starting lineup, significantly redistribute minutes, or just keep riding a rotation that had won 12 of 13 games before Saturday in part because the pieces finally started fitting better?

Lloyd mostly didn’t budge. Until Saturday, when his hand was forced.

Starting power forward Trey Townsend sat out UA’s game with Texas Tech… and the Wildcats still led almost throughout their 82-73 win at McKale Center, avenging their only loss of the Big 12 season.

Lloyd started Bryant while giving Veesaar a career-high 30 minutes off the bench, sometimes even playing the Estonian 7-footer along with low-post mainstay Tobe Awaka for a particularly rugged inside combo.

Result: While the Wildcats were outrebounded by 16 at Texas Tech three weeks earlier with Townsend in the lineup, they outrebounded the Red Raiders by 13 this time.

“I didn't think they missed a beat with the injury, honestly,� Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "I mean, maybe they had some even better minutes and categories because they had a different lineup out there. (With them) playing four guards and then going with those two bigs, it was tough to deal with over the course of the game.�

They were two vastly different looks that were made necessary by Townsend’s absence and by Lloyd’s memory of how the Wildcats were badly out-toughed in Lubbock.

“When Trey goes out, our rotation changes a little bit,� Lloyd said. “To be honest with you, I did not know Trey wasn't going to play until closer to the game. And one of the things we were practicing initially was playing the two-big lineup. I just thought it would be important this game. I thought we got crushed on the glass so bad by these time guys last time.�

Asked during his pregame news conference Friday about the status of Townsend and Awaka, who was poked in the eye at BYU four days earlier, Lloyd said “I think we’re business as usual … I don’t think there’s anything that’s come out of it at all.�

Townsend had fallen backwards on his head early in the second half of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 85-74 win at BYU on Tuesday, but did not develop concussion symptoms until after he returned to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

UA did not announce anything of Townsend's status during the week and Lloyd declined to get into much detail when asked what changed between Friday’s press conference and Saturday’s game.

“All this medical stuff … it's way beyond me,� Lloyd said.

Townsend wasn’t on the UA bench during Saturday’s game, suggesting a protocol or preference to avoid light and/or noise, while Lloyd said he wasn’t sure if Townsend would return Tuesday at Kansas State.

If not, and maybe even if so, Bryant and Veesaar are likely to be leaned on more heavily again.

Bryant wound up playing only 22 minutes Saturday because of foul trouble but he picked up six rebounds and scored four points while helping in some ways that didn’t show up in the box score.

“I was worried about Carter and the fouls today, playing against a guy like (TTU’s) Darrion Williams, who is really experienced,� Lloyd said. “It'll be a great lesson for Carter. I think there's gonna be some really good things to watch in film, but there was also a lot of possessions where Carter’s length and athleticism and effort impacted the game. I thought Carter blended into the game brilliantly.�

Veesaar’s impact was even more obvious. He scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, hitting a 3-pointer in the first half, while collecting eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

All that from a guy who went scoreless with two rebounds while missing all four shots he took at Texas Tech on Jan. 18, one of many reasons the Wildcats suffered their only Big 12 loss that day.

“I’m sure that was in the back of his memory,� Awaka said. “But knowing him, he's a guy that gets over things really quickly. Just the way that he bounced back today was great.�

Awaka said it’s been amazing how much Veesaar has progressed since he arrived at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ last summer as a transfer from Tennessee and that he’s “an even greater person off the court.â€�

Maybe that bodes well for the Wildcats, because Lloyd indicated he might put Veesaar and Awaka on the floor more often, too, in the same way he once envisioned he might pair 7-2 sophomore Motiejus Krivas with another center before he was sidelined for the season with a foot/ankle injury in December.

“We were planning on playing two bigs to start out the season and then Mo gets hurt and things change,� Lloyd said. “I definitely think Henry and Tobe playing together could be something we can see down the stretch of the season.

“I think there's a lot of advantages to it. Tobe did a great job defensively, no matter what position he played today. I thought Henri was really impactful around the rim, changing shots and then coming up with rebounds around the basket.â€�Ìý

Before long, Lloyd will re-insert Townsend into that mix again. It may be different this time, or maybe Townsend will be different.

Townsend had averaged only 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in his past four games, though he left the BYU game after just 11 minutes because of the concussion.

“Trey is an important piece to our puzzle and he's a winner,� Lloyd said. “He's a high-character guy, and maybe this little break, tending to this concussion, will help reset him a little bit and allow him to rest up and finish strong. That would be my hope.�