No. 1 Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd had nothing but respect for the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks after their 82-78 loss to Bill Self’s squad at Allen Fieldhouse in Lexington, Ky., on Monday.
Darry Peterson’s absence seemingly became a topic as big as the game between the blue bloods, but Lloyd would rather talk about how great the Jayhawks were than the star freshman.
“Let’s not make this about Darryn Peterson,” Lloyd told reporters during the postgame press conference, via Rachel Hallam of KWCH 12 News. “They beat the number one team in the country at home tonight.”
For Kansas to pull off such a win against a powerful visitor despite missing its best player says a lot about the Jayhawks’ strength as a team, and Lloyd simply wanted to acknowledge that.
With Peterson ruled out just before tipoff because of flu-like symptoms, the Jayhawks relied on sophomores Flory Bidunga and Melvin Council Jr., who each scored 23 points. Bidunga added 10 boards, 3 blocks and 1 steal, while Council had 6 boards, 6 dimes and 1 steal for Kansas, which improved to 19-5 overall.
Arizona got 25 points from freshman guard Brayden Burries and fell to 23-1.
It is not about to get easier for the Wildcats, as their next three opponents are all currently ranked, including the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Ariz.
