Tommy Lloyd is not concerned about a hand injury to his starting center as the Arizona Wildcats prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

After the Wildcats beat UCLA to claim the Pac-12 Tournament championship, center Oumar Ballo revealed he broke a bone in his hand during the UA’s semifinal game against Arizona State. Ballo played the title match with a splint on his hand. But he still logged 13 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks in 26 minutes.

When UCLA’s big men fouled out, Ballo was left to make an impact on the interior.

Lloyd expects a similar performance when the Wildcats begin dancing.

“I’m expecting him to come out and impact the game like he always does,” Lloyd said. “Statistically, I don’t put much of burden on his shoulders because I think if he’s playing well, impacting the game, the stats just come. We’re looking for Oumar to have his usual impact.”

A redshirt junior, Ballo was voted the Most Improved Player in the Pac-12 this season. He holds averages of 14.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks a game in 27.6 minutes. He leads the league in effective field goal percentage (64.9%).

Princeton — Arizona’s first-round opponent — will start a 6-foot-8 senior at the center spot to guard Ballo. The 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo will have a significant size advantage in the matchup.

The Tigers have a superb big man themselves — the aforementioned 6-foot-8 Tosan Evbuomwan — but how they choose to defend Arizona’s high-low action between Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis will be a fascinating subplot in the game.

We’ve seen Ballo dominate on the interior this season when Arizona has fed him the ball