Anyone who thought the Arizona men’s basketball season wouldn’t see difficulties was fooling themselves – even after Arizona’s strong start.
It was the backend of the schedule everyone – whether they wanted to realize it or not – that was the cause of concern.
It continued to be a problem on Saturday night in Ames, Iowa, where Arizona was never really in the 84-67 loss.
Arizona lost the lead three minutes into the game and never recovered, heck, it was down by a season-high 24 points midway through the second half before it made the game respectable.
It went on an 8-0 run and eventually cut it to nine points (73-64) when Jaden Bradley hit a shot with just more than three minutes left.
But, then Arizona went cold and that was that.
“We’re going to fight back,” Tommy Lloyd said of the late rally. “We’re not a bunch of bums.”
But, by that time – it was all but over.
“They (Cyclones) played great today,” Lloyd told reporters after the game. “They had a great shooting stretch there in the first half that gave them the cushion they needed to ride it out. Lot of respect for (coach) TJ (Otzelberger).
“Good for Ames and bad for Arizona.”
Deep down, Lloyd knew something like this could happen given the outcome of the last meeting between the two, where Caleb Love had to hit a 60-foot prayer to tie it in regulation before Arizona won in going away fashion.
That was then.
And, well, ISU played exactly like expected – very well.
clean up on isle
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 2, 2025pic.twitter.com/ciNb3RqrTy
“It’s not rocket science,” Lloyd said, “All you have to do is look at their shooting splits home and away (good and not so good). You’re hoping your defense can have a little impact on that.”
It couldn’t.
Iowa State shot 50 percent from the floor overall and hit 11 of 21 3s, including nine in the first half which included six consecutive makes.
“They can miss, they just weren’t,” Lloyd said when asked about telling his team when they couldn’t miss. “Let’s play better defense.”
He added earlier:
“We dug ourselves a big hole,” he said. “(But) I’m really proud for battling back. That could have been a 30-piece there. We battled back.”
Arizona could very well fall out of the top 25, although that doesn’t matter given it’s still projected to be a four-seed or just lower (after Saturday’s poor showing) in the NCAA tournament. There’s still plenty to play for.
But, …
After going 11-1 to start the Big 12 season, Arizona has gone 2-4 since. It is tied for second place in the Big 12 with Texas Tech (a Saturday winner over Kansas) at 13-5 in the conference. It is 19-10 overall with Arizona State (Tuesday) and Kansas (Saturday) left on the schedule.
For context, Arizona has been able to handle the lower half of the conference, but, oh my, how different the upper has been to the Wildcats.
Arizona lost to the Wildcats (Kansas State), Cougars (Houston), Cougars (BYU) and now the Cyclones.
Oh, my.
Arizona diverted back to its early-season ways: poor defense on the perimeter, not taking care of the ball (14 turnovers which led to 19 points, not shooting the ball well and a little of this and a little of that.
Defeat doesn’t come any easier to explain.
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