Arizona has fallen from the ranks of the undefeated. The Wildcats made a trip to Allen Fieldhouse to face Kansas on Monday night. Arizona would walk out with an 82-78 loss to Kansas. The Jayhawks took the win, even without star freshman Darryn Peterson.
After the game, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd spoke about the loss and criticized a question about Peterson being out of the lineup for Kansas, according to Ezra Amacher of Arizona Desert Swarm.
“Guys, Kansas is a hell of a team. Let’s not make this about Darryn Peterson. He didn’t play because he was sick. They beat the number one team in the country at home tonight. They did a hell of a job, and their coach did a hell of a job that, that should be the story,” Lloyd told the media after the contest.
It was the first loss of the season for Arizona, while also being the first win over the AP number one team at home for Bill Self. Coach Lloyd knew playing at Allen Fieldhouse was going to be difficult, as he discussed over the weekend with the media. He spoke again about it after the game.
“It was awesome. Last year was really good. I don’t know how to compare the two. They’re both awesome. So awesome environment, and it makes it really difficult to play. And you guys need to know it does impact the game and your fans deserve credit like that, just like our fans do at home when we’re playing in McKale,” Lloyd mused about the road environment.
With Arizona dropping its first game of the season, the only undefeated team left in the nation is Miami (OH). Still, Arizona will be one of the top-ranked teams, after being the unanimous number one team before the loss. Lloyd also addressed dropping their first game of the year.
“Well, if a guy is 38-0 on his home court on Big Mondays, it’s probably pretty hard to win here, no matter what our record coming in is. So we knew it’s going to be a tough game, and we’re okay with it. Like guys, I’m not mad we lost. I can’t wait to get on that plane, get back home, and I feel like our season just started,” the head coach concluded.
Arizona will look to return to the win column on Saturday, as they host 16th ranked Texas Tech.
