No more McKale North: Wildcats' initiation into Big 12 continues with tournament

An unwritten message came with Arizona’s first Big 12 schedule this season, and for the most part, the Wildcats handled it better than expected.

They were given a backloaded schedule that, among other things, ended with Saturday games at Iowa State and at Kansas, while the Jayhawks didn’t even have to return their UA game to Tucson.

The Wildcats were the new kids on the Plains, and Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd knew it.

“There’s senior coaches in this league, a lot of guys I really look up to, and I have no problem with those guys calling the shots,” Lloyd said then, saying he wasn’t surprised to learn he would have to end the season at Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse.

Then the Wildcats finished in a tie for third place with BYU, behind only runaway champ Houston and Texas Tech, even though they were picked to finish fifth. UA did lose at Iowa State and Kansas, but the Wildcats earlier beat the Cyclones at McKale and wound up finishing higher than sixth-seeded Kansas.

But all that turned out to be only the first part of the Wildcats’ initiation. The second comes this week and it wasn’t orchestrated by a coach, a schedule-maker, or any human at all.

Because of how the Big 12 standings and tiebreakers played out, Arizona could be matched up with Kansas again when the Wildcats open conference tournament play on Thursday … in an arena that is less than an hour from Kansas’ campus and in a metropolitan area full of KU alums.

While the Wildcats aren’t as likely to face fifth-seeded Iowa State, which is in the opposite bracket with BYU and Houston potentially in their path to reach the championship game, the Cyclones will undoubtedly have plenty of support toward getting there, since their passionate fans are mostly within an easy half-day drive south of Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.

Since it was moved permanently in 2010 to Kansas City, where it has agreed to stay through 2031, the Big 12 Tournament has featured crowds dominated by Kansas and Iowa State fans.

“During the big games, with KU and Iowa State fans, it’ll be full,” says Gary Bedore, a veteran college basketball writer for the Kansas City Star. “If (the Jayhawks) play Iowa State, KU will have more fans but Iowa State has great contingent every year for all their games because it’s so close and they’re real proud of it. They’re the fans that kind of take over.”

In other words — despite having the same sponsor, same pink signage and same curving glass facades — the T-Mobile Center of Kansas City is not the T-Mobile Arena of Las Vegas.

It’s not the place nicknamed “McKale North” because the Wildcats and their fans often dominated recent Pac-12 Tournaments held in Las Vegas. Not the place that is a day’s drive or a quick flight away for UA alums and fans living in Southern California and Arizona.

“We’re used to that Pac-12 in Vegas, where we basically got home games,” UA point guard Jaden Bradley said. “Now we’re gonna be on the road and depending on who we play, it might be a home game for them.”

It might, especially if it is Kansas. But that’s not all bad for the Wildcats, either. Because at least their initiation into the Big 12 gave them plenty of experience with passionate opposing fans and, sometimes, they even enjoyed the experience.

In their very first Big 12 road game, at Cincinnati on Jan. 4, the Wildcats brushed off a rowdy crowd of 11,212 at Fifth Third Arena — despite school being out of session — and beat the Bearcats 72-67.

Center Henri Veesaar, breaking out in that game with eight points and eight rebounds, found it comparable to games he played for the youth club of prestigious Real Madrid, being targeted often on the road.

“You kind of feel (like) the villain,” Veesaar said after the Cincinnati game. “When you’re used to playing this way, it’s feels great.”

The Wildcats didn’t have to deal with much adversity three days later at West Virginia, thanks to a storm that dropped 8 inches of snow and school also being out of session. But they suffered their first Big 12 loss at Texas Tech on Jan. 18 in front of a rowdy crowd of 15,098 that included a student section of 4,223.

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That was a learning experience.

Then the Wildcats pulled out an easy win three days later at Oklahoma State on a chilly Tuesday night, against a small crowd that compared to those during Arizona’s most recent Pac-12 games at Cal and Stanford, where UA’s Bay area alums and traveling UA fans could sometimes even drown out those of home team.

After that, Arizona pulled out two road games closer to home, at ASU on Feb. 1 and at BYU on Feb. 4. They felt heat on the court at ASU, during a game that featured four technical fouls and ejections to ASU’s BJ Freeman and UA’s Caleb Love, and from the stands at BYU.

Some 17,274 Cougar fans showed up on a late Tuesday night only to watch the Wildcats pull out an 85-74 win in part because they went 13 of 14 from the line in the second half while shooting against a well-coordinated and rowdy student section of about 5,000.

“It’s definitely a distraction if you pay attention” to the students, said Bradley, who hit all eight free throws he took that night. “You kind of just zone out and knock them down. Like, act like you’re in practice.”

Arizona lost its composure on Feb. 12 in front of a spirited crowd of 8,914 in Kansas State’s intimate Bramlage Coliseum, committing 17 turnovers in a 73-70 loss.

But the Wildcats came back to win one more game in front of a loud crowd, beating Baylor 74-67 at the Bears’ even more intimate Foster Pavilion on Feb. 17 despite coming off dispiriting losses at K-State and to Houston at McKale Center on Feb. 15.

“We felt like we had opportunities to win both those games, and you just don’t want to let a third one slip through,” Lloyd said. “I thought we did a good job showing up with energy.”

Two more road games remained for the Wildcats after they left Baylor, and what happened was pretty much what was expected: Iowa State won 84-67 on March 1 at Hilton Coliseum and Kansas won 83-76 on March 8 at Allen Fieldhouse.

But, still, some of them had fun.

Lloyd complimented the Wildcats on avoiding a “30-piece” at Ames — they ultimately shaved seven points off what was a 24-point ISU lead — and said after the Kansas game that the piercing fan noise still had his ears ringing.

“And that’s awesome,” Lloyd said.

Bradley probably won’t forget the KU experience anytime soon, either.

“It was electric,” Bradley said. “The fans, the energy. It was just like you see on TV.”

So maybe even if T-Mobile Center becomes Allen East or Hilton South more so than McKale North, maybe that’s not all bad for the Wildcats.

Lloyd is bracing for it.

“I definitely don’t expect McKale in the Midwest,” Lloyd said. “We had McKale North in Vegas all those years and I would imagine that Kansas and Iowa State are going to kind of own the arena.

“But we’re here for it. We’re here to compete. We’re in the Big 12. That’s where the conference tournament is. So we’re going to show up like everyone else.”