No. 1 Arizona suffers first loss of the season and falls 82-78 to No. 9 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse

As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After setting a program and Big 12 record with their 23-0 start to the season, the Arizona Wildcats are undefeated no more, suffering their first loss of the season to budding Big 12 rival Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Big Monday. As Tommy Lloyd and Co. turn the corner and prepare for College GameDay and No. 16 Texas Tech, here are three takeaways and observations from the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats’ 82-78 loss to the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks.

1) Lots it can learn with first loss under its belt

No one likes losing, especially when you’re an elite competitor. But Arizona’s loss does two things ahead of its gauntlet remainder of the season. One, it gets rid of the pressure of being undefeated heading into the NCAA Tournament. Per the NCAA, there have only been seven undefeated national champions since 1939, with the most recent perfect season belonging to Indiana in 1975-76. 50 years later, the amount of pressure the Wildcats would have been under had they finished the regular season with a perfect 31-0 record would have been immense. We’re not saying that Arizona isn’t built to handle that pressure, but with a loss under its belt, it no longer needs to worry about keeping a win streak alive, staying perfect, and becoming the first undefeated national champion in half a century.

Secondly, a loss is a powerful teacher and gives Arizona a new and valuable experience it can pull from down the stretch of conference play and into March. Brayden Burries, Koa Peat, Ivan Kharchenkov, and Dwayne Aristode had yet to experience the feeling of losing in a Wildcat uniform until Monday night. Now, those four freshmen can fall back on this experience, including what worked well, and more importantly, what didn’t, as Arizona faces ranked opponents in five of its next six games and prepares for a run and first Final Four appearance in 25 years.

2) Brayden Burries and Motiejus Krivas impressed in an otherwise uncharacteristic performance

Brayden Burries continues to play with his hair on fire. After taking home Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week honors a week ago, the freshman continues to show that no moment is too big for him. In one of the most, if not the most, hostile environment in the nation, Burries excelled, scoring 25 points with an efficient 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-7 from the perimeter. He also finished with five rebounds, three steals, and just one turnover. It’s Burries’ seventh straight game in double figures and eighth game with 20 or more points this season as the freshman continues to emerge as Arizona’s best three-level scorer.

Big man Motiejus Krivas was also dynamic on both ends of the floor, cementing himself in the conversation for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, even in the loss. The Lithuanian scored 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while tracking down 15 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, for his sixth double-double of the season. He also matched his career-high with six blocks, rejecting shots on both ends of the floor, including a magnificent chase down block off the glass.

But some of Arizona’s other superstars and normal heroes looked flustered by the moment and rattled by The Phog. The Wildcats had their second-worst free throw shooting performance of the season, behind only the game against Denver in late November (9-20, 45.0%). The UA shot an underwhelming 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the charity stripe, with the six points left on the court proving to be costly. It’s also just the fourth game this season where an opponent has had more trips to the free throw line than Arizona, with Kansas connecting on 21-of-25 attempts at the line.

Jaden Bradley, who has been known as “The Closer” this season for his maturity and poise at the end of big games, shot just 2-of-8 from the field and finished with six points. He took ill-advised shots, went 50% from the free throw, and was largely absent down the stretch of the game, as Arizona connected on just five field goals in the final ten minutes.

The Wildcats’ other freshman phenom, Koa Peat, also never got going and struggled to find a rhythm in Lawrence. Peat finished with six points on 2-of-11 (18.2%) from the field, with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and three turnovers. He exited the game for a stretch midway through the second half due to cramping.

While Arizona still played its brand of basketball, it’s uncharacteristic mistakes, particularly the struggles at the free throw line and by its veteran point guard, were a large part of the Monday night’s result.

3) Can the McKale Center return the favor and be Arizona’s sixth man?

Coming into the game, Tommy Lloyd was impressed with the energy and atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We played there last year, and I’ll be honest, I played in a lot of places. I came away there thinking, all right, you know it is different,” said Lloyd on Saturday prior to making the trip to Lawrence.

From the pictures and videos on TV and social media, The Phog absolutely lived up to the hype and then some. Students and fans alike were raucous, rowdy, and relentless for two hours, making it hard for Arizona to communicate and execute down the stretch of the game. But why does any of that matter?

Because now it’s time for Wildcat Nation to rise to the challenge and create some McKale Magic with just four more home games left. The first opportunity is on Saturday, when Arizona hosts ESPN’s College GameDay and the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders. From there, the Wildcats look to avenge last season’s home-court defeat against BYU, settle the score against Kansas, and take their one and only shot at Iowa State on Big Monday. Four games, four marquee matchups, and four massive opportunities for the Arizona faithful to prove that the McKale Center is one of the premier venues, not just on the West Coast, but in the Big 12 and in college basketball.

Can they do it? I believe so! Now only time will tell whether that’s true or not.