Lloyd Shares How Arizona Responding to Recent Adversity

The Arizona Wildcats have finally gotten their first taste of adversity this season after falling to the #9 Kansas Jayhawks for their first defeat of the season.

Now at 23-1, the #1 team in the land won’t finish the season undefeated after falling 82-78 on the road to a Kansas team that was playing without Darryn Peterson, who is not only Kansas’ best player, but a projected top 3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

The Wildcats will need to wipe the slate clean, and fast. Their remaining schedule offers no breaks from now until the end of the season. Arizona’s final month of the season is as follows: Home vs. #16 Texas Tech, Home vs. #22 BYU, Away vs. #3 Houston, Away vs. Baylor, Home vs. #9 Kansas, Home vs. #5 Iowa State, and Away vs. Colorado.

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self greets Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd before the game inside Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 9, 2026. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Solid response

Ahead of their matchup with Texas Tech this weekend, head coach Tommy Lloyd shared that his team has responded well to the adversity they’ve faced over the past few days.

“Obviously, we were on a little bit of a run,” Lloyd said, regarding the team’s 23-0 start. “I was never delusional, and thought that it was our god-given right to win every game. Kansas gets a ton of credit, and an awesome atmosphere, their best player was out and they found a way to get it done.”

“For us, I’ll give our guys credit, I didn’t think we played great, but we gave ourselves a chance until the end,” he added. “I think there’s a lot to learn from it, and we’ve kind of taken the last couple of days to digest it. Now, we have a heck of a stretch coming up, and it starts with Texas Tech. I think it’s Texas Tech, BYU, Houston pretty much in an eight-day window. That’s pretty awesome, so we need to gear up for that. For us, it’s always been about moving forward, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) awaits for an inbound pass during the game against Kansas Jayhawks inside Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 9, 2026. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Still the one

Despite their loss to the Jayhawks, the Wildcats are still considered one of the favorites to win the national championship this season, and remain one of the best teams in the country by several metrics.

They’ll look to finish the season strong as their tough road ahead will prove to be a major test heading into the NCAA Tournament. So far, the Wildcats have proven they can hang with — and beat — just about anyone in the country, and they’ll look to prove that over the last month of the season.

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