Still steaming after losing what he called a “collision of styles” on Saturday against gritty, slow and defensive-minded Houston, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd described how the rest of the weekend could play out.
The Wildcats could put their heads down, walk through a tired practice Sunday, then get on an airplane, fly to Texas and … cover their eyes during a late Monday night ESPN-televised game at Baylor.
That’s the version he says the media and maybe everyone else who watches the Wildcats, might envision, anyway.
“You guys think we’re going to get our asses kicked at Baylor,” he said.
But there are reasons to think otherwise. History, Baylor’s own issues and even KenPom suggest as much.
KenPom’s predictive analytic engine has Baylor winning by only a point on Monday, while the Bears are down to a seven-player rotation after losing starting center Josh Ojianwuna for the year with a knee injury on Feb. 8, the latest blow to a team that has been compromised by injuries much of the season.
“We’ve kind of had to reinvent ourselves each and every week or so,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
Also, maybe as much as anything, it might be worth noting that Lloyd has never lost three games in a row since he arrived at Arizona before the 2021-22 season.
The Wildcats actually never lost twice in a row under Lloyd until they wobbled into a tricky nonconference schedule earlier this season, losing to Wisconsin and Duke in November.
Then they lost Oklahoma and West Virginia on successive days in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving weekend and now have lost to Kansas State and Houston over the past week to slip into a second-place tie in the Big 12.
The Wildcats followed those first two two-game skids with convincing wins over mid-major programs, beating Davidson 104-71 on Nov. 27 in the Bahamas and Southern Utah 102-66 on Dec. 7 at McKale Center.
They know how to bounce back.
It’s the “next play or next game mentality,” guard K.J. Lewis said. “We remember the feeling when we were 4-5 in the Bahamas, having that chip on our shoulder when everybody kind of doubted us. We’re just going to go to Waco with that same mentality.”
Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe (7), left, and Arizona guard KJ Lewis (5) fight for the ball along the baseline during the first half of their Big 12 game at McKale Center, Jan. 14, 2025.
This is different, of course. They’ll be facing another Big 12 team, one that has popped in and out of the AP Top 25, loaded with gifted perimeter players that include projected lottery pick VJ Edgecombe plus an often unstoppable fifth-year big man in Norchad Omier.
They also have to do it with a very tight turnaround.
While UA often played two games over three days during Pac-12 road weekends, the two games either required no flight or a very short one between them, with the Wildcats usually taking off right after the first game to have a full day of preparation at the next venue.
Arizona considered flying to Waco immediately after Saturday’s game, but ultimately decided to fly out Sunday, allowing an extra night at home but a more compressed prep in Waco.
“I gotta worry about having a team that has energy Monday night,” Lloyd said. “We’ve got to figure out how to get ourselves organized, figure out our game plan, get on the plane and go compete on the road in a crazy environment.”
It probably helps UA that Monday’s game isn’t until 8 p.m. MST, allowing extra game-day time for rest and preparation, while Lloyd says late-season practices can be more energy-efficient.
“This time of year, you don’t have to run up and down at practice,” he said. “You can watch film and you can learn that way. You can walk through stuff. We’ve had a lot of bullets that we’ve shot, a lot of reps, and hopefully we can go figure out how to put in a game plan without wearing our guys out.”
The Wildcats can also just sit down and talk. Like about that “ass-kicking” stuff with which Lloyd appeared to be publicly challenging them during his postgame press conference Saturday.
“I want to see what our guys are made of,” Lloyd said then. “I want to see how they respond.”
The quick transition to Monday’s game has another potential upside for Arizona too: It allows the Wildcats a chance to step back on the court quickly and create a new memory, instead of brooding for days on end about the old one.
“I think it’s better to get our mind off it,” guard Caleb Love said. “I’m glad we have a short turnaround. We’ll be ready.”
Drew might not be surprised if they are.
After Baylor hung on to beat West Virginia in overtime on Saturday, the Bears’ coach was asked what kind of advantages there might be facing a team such as Arizona that lost at home on a Saturday and had to travel to a Monday game.
“I don’t know what advantages are anymore,” Drew said, chuckling. “We’ve done that and I think we’ve won and played well, because you get away from the noise after a negative experience on Saturday. You’re able to bond and get together.”
