Why Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd ‘shared a wink’ with KU’s Bill Self during Saturday’s game
Long after Saturday’s 83-76 loss to the Jayhawks, Arizona men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd returned to Kansas’ James Naismith Court from the visitors’ locker room at Allen Fieldhouse for his postgame interview with the Wildcats’ radio network.
He was surprised to see a nearly full arena, KU fans in no hurry to hit the exits.
“It was awesome today and crazy,” Lloyd said. “Ninety percent of the fans were still there 20 minutes after the game listening to the senior speeches. That’s pretty special.”
While not happy his team lost the game and completed Arizona’s first season in the Big 12 with a 14-6 record to KU’s 11-9 mark, Lloyd definitely enjoyed the fieldhouse experience.
“My ears are still ringing and that’s awesome. It was hard to communicate. I honestly had a lot of fun coaching the game,” Lloyd said before mentioning KU coach Bill Self.
“I mean, down the stretch, Coach Self and I even shared a wink,” Lloyd said. “It’s fun out there competing in an environment like that. It’s stuff you dream of as a competitor. So absolutely no fear, but nothing but respect for coach Self, his program and Kansas basketball.”
Arizona, which as the No. 3 seed in this week’s Big 12 tournament could play its quarterfinal game against KU on Thursday night — if the Jayhawks beat the winner of Tuesday’s UCF-Utah game on Wednesday night — experienced two of the best crowds the Big 12 has to offer the past two Saturdays.
The Cyclones defeated the Wildcats 84-67 on March 1 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
“The last two places we played are electric,” Lloyd said Saturday. “I’m an Arizona guy and I love Arizona but — and this is not an indictment on our fans — we’ve got work to do. There’s a gap between Kansas and Iowa State (and Arizona) in these game-day atmospheres and their fan support.”
Of course, McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona, home of the Wildcats, had a reputation for many years as one of loudest game-day venues in the Pac-12.
“We had to adapt to the atmosphere a bit and I just thought we played selfish (early on),” said Lloyd, whose squad trailed by 14 points in the first half and nine at halftime.
“You’re not going to come to a place like Kansas and play selfish and be successful,” he said. “We’ve got to play team basketball. We’re a team and we should have learned that lesson. I’m proud our guys showed that we did in the second half, and we gave ourselves a chance.”
Lloyd left Lawrence impressed with the Jayhawks.
“They are consistent winners. That’s a team poised to make something happen in the postseason,” he said.
Yet KU enters the Big 12 tournament as the league’s No. 6 seed.
A look at the final standings shows Houston placing first for a second straight season at 19-1, followed by Texas Tech (15-5), Arizona and BYU (14-6), Iowa State (13-7), KU (11-9), West Virginia and Baylor (10-10), TCU and K-State (9-11), Utah (8-12), Cincinnati, UCF and Oklahoma State (7-13), Arizona State (4-16) and Colorado (3-17).
“I’m just proud of our guys. You have 16 teams battling and only four get it (Big 12 tourney bye),” Lloyd said. “For us to take third … we didn’t have the easiest of years. Obviously Houston is the best team in our conference. Texas Tech has been unbelievable. For us to kind of be next on the ladder shows something. You saw today how good Kansas is. Kansas didn’t get third. I think it’s a testament to our guys.
“We’re here to earn any respect we get. We’re not asking for anything because it says Arizona on our chest for the Big 12 to think we’re great. We’re going to show we are great over time. That’s the mindset I have.”
Of returning to the Kansas City area again this week — and possibly playing KU in back-to-back games, if the Jayhawks can take care of business against UCF or Utah — Lloyd said: “I’m looking forward to seeing what the Big 12 Tournament feels like. Experiencing that. And then I’m looking forward to playing some teams from some other conferences when we get to the NCAA Tournament.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Why Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd ‘shared a wink’ with KU’s Bill Self during Saturday’s game."
