Without McKale North-style support, Wildcats uneven in Big 12 tourney win over UCF

Specifically, during their 81-59 win over UCF in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, they missed the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

There, the T-Mobile-sponsored venue where games were played was known as “McKale North,” a place where thousands of UA fans could inject the Wildcats with energy in good times and bad.

The kind of energy that might have helped when UA went up by 27 points in the first half over the Knights ... but then floated somewhat uncomfortably much of the rest of the way.

The Big 12 holds its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, which is hardly "McKale North." It’s actually "Hilton South," so nicknamed because Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum is just a three-hour hop away, and is expected to be filled primarily with Cyclones fans on Friday for the Wildcats’ semifinal game with Iowa State.

Lloyd says he doesn’t blame UA fans or Iowa State fans for that likely imbalance.

In Las Vegas, “we were Iowa State. We were Kansas. So it obviously feels really different for us now,” Lloyd said. “But listen, it's what we signed up for, so there's no complaints. I'm not going to be bitter towards Iowa State fans or Kansas fans for coming to support their team. It's not an easy haul to get from Tucson to Kansas City.”

Well, Arizona as an institution signed up for it, anyway. The school had little choice when the Pac-12 imploded in 2023, with the Big Ten having ripped out its Pacific Coast core, leaving UA, ASU, Colorado and Utah to jump in the Big 12’s lifeboat starting with the 2024-25 season.

That meant Big 12 travel through the conference season, and Kansas City at the end for the conference tournament.

“Would I want this in Vegas? Yeah. 100 percent I would,”  Lloyd said.  “But you know what? I didn't ask to be in the Big 12. We got put in the Big 12. I didn't have any input on it, but I love being in the Big 12.’

“So if they tell me we're going to play in Kansas City, we're loading up the plane and going to Kansas City. We're not going to sit there and overthink it. You guys can do all that stuff or have another coach give you opinions on what he would want. I just want to get on the floor and try to kick ass and play 40 minutes. That's it."

There was another issue Lloyd ran into, also.

UA fans thinking about attending a weekend of this particular postseason might consider going to Kansas City… or consider that the Wildcats are a virtual lock to play in sunny and nearby San Diego for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament next week.

That’s probably an easy choice for a lot of folks.

“I think our fans all waited to buy tickets,” Lloyd said. “They all assume that we're going to San Diego. They're making a lot of assumptions now, and they've saved all their money. I just didn't feel like we had a great presence in the arena today.”

They didn’t. There were some “U of A” chants inside the T-Mobile Center but nothing like the Wildcats used to hear in Las Vegas and probably not even like the ones they heard away from home this season, at places such as TCU, UCF and Baylor.

“Then it needs to become all about us,” Lloyd said, except it wasn’t, always.

Arizona took early 14-2 and 35-8 leads but mostly sat on them the rest of the game, at least until Brayden Burries sprayed in seven points over 36 seconds to give UA a 73-54 lead with 3:32 to go, en route to his game-high 21 points.

Until then, somewhat like how the Wildcats couldn’t fully put UCF away in an 84-77 win in Orlando on Jan. 17, Arizona allowed its 27-point lead to be shaved to 12 in the first half and after going up by 20 in the second half, again down to 12.

“Sometimes you get comfortable with the lead, and that's human nature,” senior wing Anthony Dell’Orso saidl. “But that's something we talked about, and we'll be better at.”

They probably won't have to worry about getting too comfortable against Iowa State.

Just 10 days ago, the Cyclones were the victims showing up for Senior Night at McKale Center, losing 73-57 to Arizona and falling into what became the No. 5 Big 12 Tournament seed, meaning they had to play a second round and a quarterfinal game just to meet the Wildcats again in the semis.

They crushed ASU in their first game, 91-42, then took care of shorthanded Texas Tech 75-53 on Thursday. They have won by an average of 30.7 points since that March 2 game at McKale, though two of their three games in that stretch were against ASU.

While they had the wear and tear of having to play two Big 12 Tournament games alreday, they have plenty to be motivated about.

“We got them last week, and they're seeking revenge, so we've got to make sure we bring it full 40. No relaxing," Dell'Orso said. "We’ve gotta be strong with the ball. Obviously, they’re great defensive team. They got their principles and they're super physical and handsy. So we’ve gotta stay with the ball. No lazy turnovers. No careless mistakes. We did a good job of that last time. We’ve got to do it again tomorrow.”

Finishing with what still turned out to be a wide victory margin, Wildcats could afford a few careless mistakes on Thursday.

Arizona took an early 14-2 lead while UCF missed seven of its first eight shots, then went on a 15-0 run to take a 35-8 lead with 7:38 left. During that run, UA received five points each from Burries, Koa Peat and Dell’Orso.

The Wildcats’ large margin allowed Lloyd to put in seldom-used reserve forward Sidi Gueye for a minute with 6:37 to go, and he played reserve guard Evan Nelson for a minute in the second half as well as walk-ons Addison Arnold and Sven Djopmo.

But Lloyd wasn’t able to go significantly deeper into his bench, and perhaps save more energy from his regular eight-player rotation in case the Wildcats wind up reaching the Big 12 championship game.

While Arizona led by up to 27 points in the first half, took a 46-30 halftime lead, and went ahead by 20 early in the second half, UCF eventually pulled within 12 points when Themus Fulks hit a 3-pointer on the break with 4:48 left, before Burries singlehandedly gave the Wildcats their cushion back.

During that personal 7-0 run, Burries drew a foul from Burks and hit two free throws, then stole a pass from Jordan Burks and raced downcourt for a dunk. After Stillwell missed a 3 for UCF, Burries then hit a 3 to make it 73-54 with 3:53 left, giving UA control of the game.

“My teammates gave me the energy I needed and coach was getting on us,” Burries said. “Then it was just playing basketball, being aggressive.”

That’s the way Lloyd says it may have to be for a while, finding self-created energy somehow.

There is no choice, at least until the Wildcats get to San Diego this season. And in the future, for at least another four Big 12 Tournaments, since the event is contracted for T-Mobile Center until 2031.

“We have an amazing fan base," Lloyd said. "It looks like the tournament's going to be here for a while, so I think we better figure out how to win in Kansas City. That's where my mind's at.”