The Arizona basketball team lost a close game to Kansas on Monday, 82-78. Arizona lost its first game of the season, as well as its first conference game.
Following the loss, Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd addressed the reality of the situation.
“I thought they weathered a couple of runs by us and then they kind of put their head down and really drove the ball and got a lot of free-throws,” Lloyd said, per 247 Sports. “Bidunga threw in a couple of hooks and got a couple loose balls and was able to get to his jump hook and cashed them in.”
Lloyd says his team needs to shake this off.
“We're built for it,” the head coach said. “I don't care how the game is officiated, we should be fine. We're a physical team and we're built for it. I am sure there were some missed calls, but they were probably on both ends. We just have to move forward and our first mantra is to get tougher.”
Arizona still leads the Big 12 conference standings, despite the loss. The Wildcats are now 23-1 overall.
Arizona basketball's Tommy Lloyd said his team got too stagnant against Kansas
The Wildcats finished the game shooting 44 percent overall, but just 57 percent at the free-throw line. Arizona actually held a three-point lead at halftime, but struggled to score in the second half of the contest.
“Sometimes you play in these hard environments in the Big 12 later in the season and it's fine, there's no complaints, but there's going to be a lot that gets to go in the paint,” Lloyd added. “The refs aren't going to guess probably on both ends of the floor. If you want to win these games, you have to deliver when you get the ball inside, you have to be able to play through physical contact, you have to be able to play through what you think are fouls. You have to keep it moving.”
Arizona next plays Texas Tech on Saturday.
