There are a lot of things you can count on with Arizona fans, but maybe more than anything is their ability to hold a grudge. This was evident early last season when, despite it being more than eight years since their last meeting, Wisconsin’s arrival at McKale Center was considered a revenge game and a chance to make up for the back-to-back losses to the Badgers in the 2014 and 2015 Elite Eights.
You don’t have to go as far back for Wildcat Nation’s grievance with Houston. While this will be the first time the Cougars are playing in Tucson in 16 years—more on that in a moment—the teams last met in the 2022 Sweet 16 in San Antonio, with the UA losing 72-60.
That officially makes this a Tommy Lloyd Revenge Game, of which Arizona is 11-1 since Lloyd became coach. But there are no UA players remaining from that squad, so only Lloyd has familiarity with what to expect from the nation’s No. 6 team and the only team ahead of the Wildcats in the Big 12 standings.
“I know what it feels like to play against him, and I know it’s tough,” Lloyd said Friday. “There’s no extra motivation. Now you’re in the same conference, you’re going to be butting heads all the time. We want to be at Houston’s level consistently and we know we got to earn that right. I’m looking forward to this game. No matter what the outcome, I’m looking forward to this game.”
This is the first time Houston will play at McKale since Jan. 24, 2009, a game remembered for Cougars guard Aubrey Coleman getting ejected after stepping on the neck of Arizona wing Chase Budinger. The UA was down 12 with less than 10 minutes left when that happened, and it sparked a major comeback that led to a 96-90 overtime win.
Here’s what to expect when 13th-ranked Arizona (17-7, 11-2) and No. 6 Houston (20-4, 12-1) meet at noon on ESPN:
A full rotation?
Senior forward Trey Townsend missed the last two games while going through concussion protocol, and while Arizona managed to beat then-No. 13 Texas Tech without him his absence was more noticeable against Kansas State. With him out and Anthony Dell’Orso limited to 15 minutes—two in the second half—it left the UA without many lineup options.
Lloyd said Towsend returned to practice Thursday and “looks like he’ll be able to go,” with it likely he’ll return to the starting lineup if he can play.
“Trey’s a good player,” Lloyd said. “He’s a good player who has said some really good games for us. He’s had some of the games that aren’t so great. But when he’s part of your main rotation, him not playing impacts it. Just to have your full allotment of players back that you’re comfortable rotating through, I mean, obviously it’s a good thing.”
Freshman Carter Bryant started in Townsend’s place but, like his previous three starts, his offense wasn’t there. Bryant is averaging 6.7 points and 53.4 percent shooting off the bench compared to 4.2 and 30 percent as a starter. The 3-pointer he made at K-State was his only one in 10 tries as a starter, while in a reserve role he’s 21 of 52 (40.4 percent).
As for Dell’Orso, it seems like forever ago that he dropped 20 and made 6 of 9 3s against Colorado on Jan. 25. Since then: 14 points in five games, missing all 10 3-point attempts.
He had six early points at K-State including a layup and a dunk, but his tentativeness from the perimeter combined with defensive lapses cut his playing time.
“We need Delly shooting,” Lloyd said. “We need Delly to be a catch and shoot player. I don’t need Delly playmaking. I think one of the best things he can give us is an influx of shooting, and he has done that in stretches. He’s at a pivotal moment in his career as a developing player. You’re at a higher leve;, the stakes are high, you got to figure out what you got to do to be effective and thrive at this level. And Delly can really shoot the ball. Shooting isn’t one of our strengths overall as a team, it’s one of his. Please, give us more shooting.”
Despite the slump, Dell’Orso is shooting 42.2 percent from 3. No other Wildcat is shooting better than 35.5 percent among the regulars.
Turnover troubles
Arizona is coming off a 3-point loss at Kansas State that can be directly blamed on its 17 turnovers, which led to 23 points for the opponent. It was the Wildcats’ most turnovers since having 23 in the loss to UCLA in mid-December that dropped them to 4-5.
Tuesday’s TO tally came against a K-State team not known for taking the ball away. The same can’t be said for Houston, which forces 13.1 per game in Big 12 play and for the season gets a takeaway on 22.6 percent of defensive possessions.
The Cougars turned 15 Baylor turnovers into 28 points on Monday, enabling them to win by 11 despite allowing 57.9 percent shooting.
“Be strong with the ball,” Lloyd said when asked about the turnovers. “If you’re not strong with the ball, you’re gonna turn it over. A few lesser risk plays here and there will be a good thing, too. But it’s always a fine line of being aggressive and your turnovers, it’s always a fine line. I don’t know, I guess you could try to hold the ball every possession and shoot at 29, punt it, and not turn the ball over, but I don’t know if you’re going to win many games like that.”
The tortoise vs. the hare
Arizona plays at the second-fastest pace in the Big 12, its adjusted tempo of 70.2 possessions per 40 minutes ranked 38th in the country. Houston, on the other hand …
The Coogs’ adjusted tempo is 60.7, fifth-slowest in Division I. They’ve had only five games with 70 or more possessions, and three of those went to overtime, while in Big 12 they’ve played six games with fewer than 60 and won those by an average of 17.3 points.
It’s often been the case of opponents trying to slow Arizona down, while here the Wildcats may want to speed up Houston. Or maybe not, according to Lloyd.
“I don’t know what speeding up would do,” he said. “I think that both teams are going to try to play to their strengths. Obviously we’re not going to be turning down fast breaks if we can get them. I’m not expecting to have them right and left. Coach (Kelvin) Sampson is one of the best coaches in the game, and he does an incredible job. And when you watch him as another coach, there’s a lot of respect there. I could go on and on and on about how much I respect him and what they’re doing, and I enjoy watching them play, and I know it’s going to be a challenge to play against.”
Arizona’s slowest games this season have had 64 possessions, the loss to UCLA and the win at West Virginia. The Wildcats are 6-4 in sub-70 possession games in 2024-25 and 23-12 all-time under Lloyd, including a 62-possession affair against Houston in 2022 which was the slowest game of the Lloyd era.
Protecting the flag
Arizona won 27 of 30 Pac-12 home games during Lloyd’s first three seasons, and so far in the Big 12 it is 6-0 and the only team in the league without a home loss. Houston is the only Big 12 school yet to lose on the road, sitting at 6-0 including a double-overtime win at Kansas in which it rallied from down multiple scores in the final of regulation and the first OT.
The Cougars bring a 10-game road win streak to McKale, longest in the country.
“They have a very sound plan that travels well,” Lloyd said of Houston. “They’re great defensively. They’re great on the glass. They have good shooters that are willing to let it rip, and if they’re not making them they have enough confidence to keep shooting. They don’t turn the ball over, they turn you over, and all those things equate to winning. If you’re sound in all those areas, that’s a style of basketball that travels.”
As of Friday afternoon, Arizona is a 1.5-point underdog according to FanDuel Sportsbook. If that holds up it will be the first time the Wildcats haven’t been favored at home since 2012 against Florida.
The UA also has a nation-leading streak of 78 consecutive conference games, dating back to 2021, without losing two in a row, at stake. The next-longest among power-conference teams is 44 by UConn while Houston (31) has the second-longest streak among Big 12 schools.