Lloyd Already Has Arizona Focused on Defense Entering Difficult Stretch

Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd knows exactly what he needs from his team. It comes on the defensive end of the floor, and it is much needed.

Jan 17, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd in the first half against the Central Florida Knights at Addition Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images | Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

The Arizona Wildcats were once again, by no surprise, the best team in College Basketball entering the new week. They also started the week with one of their biggest games of the season and the biggest game so far in Big 12 play against the BYU Cougars. It was a game that many had their eyes on for many reasons. The Wildcats are the best team in the nation, and what to see them in an environment against BYU. It was a game on the radar for a long time, and it came to be a good one.

Head coach Tommy Lloyd was confident in his squad and looking forward to the challenge that was in front of them. One thing that Lloyd wanted to see was if his team was playing defense well. That has been something that they have been banking on all season because they know when it comes to the clutch times in a game, the team that plays better defense is usually the team that wins the game. If this team wants to do special things this season, it is going to be because of the defensive end.

Jan 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd yells out towards players during the first half of the game against the Kansas State Wildcats at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Arizona defense is underrated

This team knows it has a lot of different playmakers, and now they have to do it on both ends of the floor. Lloyd has done a great job of instilling his team with that mindset even before the start of the season. Now this Wildcats team is going to need it more than ever because they are going to enter one of the toughest stretches of games this season. It is going to be interesting to see how Arizona handles it, especially their young players.

"I'll be honest with you, I have really no opinion on that," Tommy Lloyd said. "If someone's choosing to overlook it, I'm honestly probably not paying attention to him. I don't get caught up in the analytics. I focus on possession by possession. I thought overall today, our defense was pretty good. We had to make some adjustments. I thought some of their personnel, I thought we weren't as strong on some tendencies as we could have been."

Dec 20, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd against the San Diego State Aztecs in the second half during the Hall of Fame Series at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"I just look at it from that lens. I don't know what the numbers are saying where we're at defensively right now, but to hold a Big 12 team to 51 points at home. We haven't done that very often, so our guys deserve a lot of credit."

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