No. 2 Arizona clinches first Big 12 regular-season title, eyes a deep March run

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Bill Self spent the morning before his team's game at Arizona walking around campus, getting some exercise while enjoying the mild desert weather.

But the Kansas coach couldn't seem to get very far without being stopped. Nothing derisive. Just basketball talk.

“There's no telling how many people stopped me to talk ball,” Self said after No. 2 Arizona's 84-61 win over his 14th-ranked Jayhawks on Saturday night. “There was so many people who did that because they just love ball, much like we do.”

Kansas set the Big 12 standard under Self by winning or sharing an NCAA-record 14 straight league titles from 2005-18.

Arizona has made a quick imprint in a short time.

A year after finishing tied for third in their first Big 12 season, the Wildcats (28-2) stormed through the conference at 15-2. Arizona bounced back from consecutive losses to Kansas and No. 10 Texas Tech last month by winning five straight, closing out their third conference title in five years — the previous two in the Pac-12 — by beating the Jayhawks and Cyclones by a combined 29 points.

“We talk about vision a lot. What’s our vision, what’s our purpose?” coach Tommy Lloyd said after Arizona's 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night. “We want to envision ourselves cutting down the nets. We want to envision hoisting that trophy. Don’t get ahead of yourself, then you got to dig into like, what do we have to do to get that, what’s the most important thing today?”

Lloyd's ability to find players who fit his system and hone their focus has the Wildcats among the favorites to reach their first Final Four since the Lute Olson-led 2000-01 team.

A long-time assistant under Mark Few at Gonzaga, Lloyd has recruited high-level talent in Tucson while developing a team-first mindset that's led to the best start by any coach in NCAA history. He was The Associated Press national coach of the year during his first season in 2021-22 and the Wildcats have kept winning, earning Lloyd 140 wins as a head coach in five seasons — one more than the NCAA record set by Butler's Brad Stevens.

"I’m not good at counting big numbers; it’s really hard for me to count past one, so I keep it pretty simple,” Lloyd said. "But I’m happy. I’m happy the program has been successful."

Lloyd went against recent conventional wisdom with this season's roster, relying heavily on freshmen. The recruiting class, headlined by Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, was one of the best in the nation and has meshed well with the returning veterans.

The Wildcats are big and physical, dominating the paint on offense — fourth nationally at 43.2 points per game — while creating havoc with their aggressive-without-fouling defense.

“Defensively, their length and physicality is as real as anybody we’ve played against in the five years I’ve been here,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They’re a tremendous team.”

The Wildcats raced through their nonconference schedule, knocking off the likes of No. 5 Florida, at No. 4 UConn, No. 16 Alabama, along with UCLA and Auburn, both ranked at the time.

Arizona kept on winning once league play started, stretching their undefeated streak to 23 straight for the best start in Big 12 history. The consecutive losses to Kansas and Texas Tech in early February ended the Wildcats' stellar start, but merely served as a chance for Lloyd to reset his team's focus.

Arizona bounced back with consecutive wins over then-No. 23 BYU and No. 7 Houston, setting up the net cutting on senior day Monday night.

“Just doing it all with my brothers just knowing stuff we talked about before the season, it’s clicking,” senior point guard Jaden Bradley said. "March is a special month in basketball. We still have a lot of room to go.”

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