When he wasn’t crowing about the “Conference of Champions” or West Coast enlightenment in general, late ESPN broadcaster Bill Walton would also often note that there were “no truck stops here” in the Pac-12.
Well, technically that wasn’t quite true. There are a few truck stops located midway between Arizona and ASU, and plenty of diesel is available at the Coburg TA Travel Center on the drive between Oregon and Oregon State, among other places within the Pac-12’s old footprint.
The point, maybe, was that there is another level of grit outside the Pac-12, though, actually, the chance to develop some grittiness was one of the things the Wildcats had been looking forward to.
Of all the collateral issues associated with Arizona’s football-and-TV-related move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, the one potential benefit cited most often within and around the Wildcat men’s basketball team was preparation for the NCAA Tournament: The chance to face some of the toughest and best college teams in America, twice a week for 10 straight weeks, trading bumps and thickening skin.
Did it work?
“I definitely think so,” UA center Tobe Awaka said. “We’re more resilient. I think it’s also taught us how to finish games. I feel like that was kind of like our kryptonite in the beginning of the year, but now down the stretch, we’re finishing much better.”
Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) fights for the ball against Cougars forward Ja’Vier Francis (5) at McKale Center, Feb. 15, 2025.
While Awaka never played in the Pac-12, transferring from Tennessee after last season, two other Wildcats who did said they felt the move to the Big 12 helped.
“Yeah, it’s tougher, playing night in and night out, playing in tough competition,” guard Jaden Bradley said. “And there’s not that many breaks in between. In the Pac-12, there might be a stretch where you get like, six, seven days off and now it’s just back to back.”
Back-to-back in the sense that each week always had a Saturday game, then another on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, usually with a flight or two to the nation’s midsection involved at some point.
In all, 24 of Arizona’s 34 games have been played against Big 12 teams, including a non-conference matchup with West Virginia in the Bahamas and three conference tournament games.
They were all games, forward Henri Veesaar said, in which anybody could beat anybody.
“Definitely coming to the Big 12 battle-tested us,” Veesaar said.
Arizona’s Henri Veesaar (13) is congratulated by teammate KJ Lewis (5) after making a basket during the second half against Texas Tech in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.
While toughness isn’t always easy to quantify on paper or a computer, there are a few numbers that suggest the Wildcats may have a little more edge as they enter NCAA Tournament play on Friday against Akron in Seattle.
They are running the 33rd most efficient defense in the country and rank 43rd in two-point defense (opponents hit 47.2% from within the arc against them). UA also ranks 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, collecting their Wildcats’ misses at a 35.9% rate (Awaka individually has a 17.3% offensive rebounding percentage that is fourth best in Division I).
Anecdotally, evidence also surfaced when Arizona nearly knocked off notably tough (and No. 2-ranked) Houston at McKale Center last month, then went to Baylor just two days later and beat the Bears by seven — even as UA coach Tommy Lloyd predicted beforehand that media probably expected them to “get our asses kicked.”
Then, after suffering predictably rough road losses on successive Saturdays earlier this month at Iowa State and Kansas, the Wildcats beat Kansas and another Big 12 tough guy, Texas Tech, in the conference tournament — before leading Houston at halftime and in the second half of the championship game.
“Arizona basketball is not West Coast soft,” Lloyd said during his brief halftime interview on ESPN during the Big 12 final with Houston. “We love being in the Big 12. We know we’ve got a tough half with probably the toughest team in the country, but we’re here to show we belong.”
Then, after falling behind Houston by up to 10 points in the second half — the equivalent of a 15-point deficit to a more up-tempo opponent — the Wildcats cut the score to within one possession before losing 72-64.
They lost but, arguably, they belonged.
At one point in the first half, when guard KJ Lewis was called for a foul after wrestling over the ball with Houston guard Milos Uzan, ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla praised Lewis.
“It’s a good call but I love the toughness,” Fraschilla said. “I love the Arizona toughness.”
Afterward, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whose Cougars notably out-toughed the then-top-seeded Wildcats in the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16, also spoke highly of the Wildcats.
“I know Caleb Love is tough,” Sampson said. “Jaden Bradley is tough. KJ Lewis is tough. Veesaar is really good. He’ll be a first round (NBA) draft choice. Awaka is tough. That’s the team we played tonight.”
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) slams into Texas Tech forward JT Toppin (15) and draws the blocking foul in the second half of their Big 12 game in Tucson on Feb. 8, 2025.
Lloyd wanted even more toughness, of course. He said afterward the Wildcats could have better handled the isolation plays Houston ran offensively, trying to out-maneuver Arizona players via one-on-one matchups rather than throw the ball quickly to their undersized frontcourt.
“The Big 12 is a target league, more than any conference I’ve ever played in,” Lloyd said. “Teams attack matchups and in college you don’t see it that often. I was a little bit disappointed, because I think individually, defensively, we can win those matchups.
“That’s the challenge for our guys: When you’re getting iso-d like that, own it, and step up and make it our advantage. But we’ll learn from that and grow from that.”
Lloyd made those remarks on Sunday at St. Philip’s Plaza, after the Wildcats watched the Selection Sunday show that revealed they were assigned a No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed and date with Akron in Seattle on Friday.
The temperature was in the mid-70s on that mostly sunny March afternoon, the kind of weather that has no adversity.
Maybe you could call it Pac-12 weather, even.
But as they sat before a stage to watch the selection show, the Wildcats all wore the same T-shirts. They didn’t have Arizona “Block A”s on them or any sort of “NCAA” or “March Madness” logo.
The shirts were gray, and a graffiti tag font spelled out just two words: “Gritty Boyz.”
