In the baseball analogies that Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd sometimes tosses out, the Wildcats have been throwing a no-hitter for over two months now.
But he’s OK if you remind him of that. During a recent press conference, Lloyd jokingly recoiled when the word “undefeated” came up, comparing that to the taboo-breaking action of telling a pitcher who hasn't given up a hit in a game’s later innings that he’s “doing great.”
Superstitions, Lloyd says, have nothing to do with the game he coaches.
“Nope,” Lloyd said. “Absolutely not. Nope. Nope. Nope.”
But whether it’s rooted in superstition or not, keeping the same routine may be helping the Wildcats a bit.
If so, the Big 12 gets an assist: So far in league play, the Wildcats have been given three weeks of the same routine: A Saturday afternoon road game followed by a home game on Wednesday.
“We kind of got used to this little schedule we’ve had,” guard Jaden Bradley said after UA’s 84-77 win at UCF on Saturday. “We can’t make any excuses because we’re out here on the road.”
Instead, they've been making the road work for them thanks to the tipoff times.
All of UA's Big 12 Saturday games so far — at Utah on Jan. 3, at TCU on Jan. 10 and at UCF last Saturday — have been day games, allowing the Wildcats to fly home via charter after the game in time for a late dinner at home. Even with a 4 p.m. Eastern Time tip and nearly 1,800-mile flight home from Orlando on Saturday, the Wildcats still landed in Tucson at 10 p.m.
The Wildcats also made sure the day game didn’t work against them on the way in last weekend, choosing to fly to Orlando on Thursday so as to adjust to the time zone and shake off the longer flight.
“When we have Wednesday and Saturday games, the routine in pretty similar,” center Motiejus Krivas said. “If you have an off day, you take advantage of it.”
So far, the Wildcats have been able to take the same Sunday off that normal folks often do, then prepare for their Wednesday games on Mondays and Tuesdays, and use Thursday and Friday to prepare for and travel to Saturday’s game.
Central Florida center John Bol (7) puts up a shot in front of Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) during the second half, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla.
But all that changes next week. The Wildcats will host Cincinnati on Wednesday at McKale and, while they’ll get another home game on Saturday against West Virginia, they’ll have to spend next Sunday preparing for and flying to BYU for a Big Monday showdown on Jan. 26.
“It has been (a routine) these last few weeks,” Lloyd said. “I didn't ask for it, but it's happened. We don't get a lot of say in the rhythm of the schedule. However it breaks, we try to figure it out. Sometimes it's nice to get these little two-three week rhythms for the guys.”
Wildcats ‘impenetrable’
One reason the Wildcats are 18-0, according to the numbers of college basketball data scientist Evan Miyakawa: Arizona and Florida are the only teams among the Top 75 that have not given up a 10-0 run (adjusted for opponent strength).
Miyakawa calls that being “impenetrable.”
On offense, Arizona has inflicted an average of just over one 10-0 or more per game on its opponents, while Florida has averaged about 0.7 (and had lost five games to UA’s zero entering Saturday).
UA’s 84-77 win at UCF on Saturday was typical: The Wildcats did not give up a 10-0 run and put two of them together on the Knights — an 11-0 run in the first half and a 10-0 run in the second half.
The early 11-0 run was actually part of an overall 19-2 run that pulled the Wildcats out of a game they trailed 9-7 after the first four minutes.
“Our guys settled into the game a little bit, settled into the environment, and we attacked the paint,” Lloyd said of the 19-2 run. “We were able to get some stops, they missed some shots, and we were able to get some stuff out in transition.
“You don't want to come to a tough environment like this, start off slow and be on the other end of that run. Then you're playing uphill on the road. That’s a tough job.”
Hat tip
The Wildcats aren’t immune to giving up big individual runs, however.
UCF guard Themus Fulks became the second player to score 30 points against Arizona this season, joining Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, who did the same during UA’s 97-68 win over the Tigers on Dec. 6 at McKale Center.
Central Florida guard Themus Fulks (1) goes up to shoot between Arizona forward Koa Peat, left, and forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) during the second half, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla.
Fulks hit 11 of 18 shots, including 2 of 4 3-pointers, while also making all six free throws he attempted. He also dished out eight assists and had five rebounds.
“We kind of had him pegged as more of a passer because he's had 12 assists each of the last two games,” Lloyd said. “We told our guys he's also a double-figure scorer. He hit some pretty tough shots and maybe in the second half, we just got fortunate that some of his shots rolled off.
“For him to drop a 30 piece on us, that says to me he's a heck of a player.”
Kriisa questionable
Former Wildcat guard Kerr Kriisa has missed Cincinnati’s past four games with a separated shoulder, making his return to McKale Center on Wednesday questionable at best earlier this week, but the Bearcats are on a roll without him.
Cincinnati broke a skid of six losses over eight games by beating Colorado 77-68 on Jan. 14 and then upsetting then-second-ranked Iowa State 79-70 on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
“They know they can play with anybody,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It's a really, really, really quality win.”
