No. 1 Arizona lost its first game of the season against No. 9 Kansas on Monday night, and it was one of the few times a team has been able to compete with the Wildcats’ style and physicality.

Yet, it should have come as no surprise, as Kansas is one of the elite programs that preaches and incorporates many of the same traits and principles in its game. The most obvious being physicality, which was on full display for the Jayhawks in the upset, leaving Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd disappointed with the way his team attacked the basket.

“We didn’t finish at the rim well enough,” Lloyd acknowledged postgame. “Usually, we’re really proficient at getting to the rim or getting fouled. It’s not very often we get out-free throwed, and it’s not very often we don’t make a higher percentage of at-the-rim shots. Kansas gets credit for that.”

Kansas Out-Physicals Arizona

Arizona actually won the overall battles for rebounds and points in the paint, but both were by a narrow margin, and a few key Wildcats didn’t play up to the potential they’d shown this season. That included senior forward Tobe Awaka, who averages 9.6 rebounds per game as Arizona’s leading rebounder. Kansas held him to just three rebounds and limited his time on the floor.

In fact, if not for junior Motiejus Krivas’s 14 points and 15 rebounds, Arizona would have lost the rebounding battle by double-digits. By contrast, Kansas’ Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller each outrebounded the rest of the individual players that entered the game for Arizona.

The Wildcats also ended up on the wrong end of the fouling situation, committing more fouls and attempting 11 fewer free throws than the Jayhawks. That tells you both teams were being physical, but Arizona may have misused its physicality when trying to channel it into an advantage.

“There’s going to be a lot that gets to go in the paint, ” Lloyd continued. “The refs aren’t going to guess, probably on both ends of the floor. So if you want to win these games, you’ve got to deliver. You’ve got to deliver when you get the ball inside, you’ve got to be able to play through physical contact, you’ve got to be able to play through what you think are fouls, and you’ve just got to keep moving.”

Keeping it moving is exactly how you get through the Big 12. It doesn’t have the reputation of some other conferences, but it’s still a physical battle night in and night out. Arizona and Kansas are two of the top teams in the league in that department, and this matchup was just the beginning of a long road.

“We’re built for it,” Lloyd said. “I honestly don’t care how the game’s officiated. We should be fine. We’re a physical team, and we’re built for it. I’m sure there were some missed calls, but they were probably on both ends, so we’ve got to move forward, and our first mantra is ‘get tougher.’”

Arizona may have to get tougher in a hurry. Its next few games are against similar opponents, and as Lloyd and many other coaches have stated this season, it doesn’t matter if you lose, but it matters how you respond to each loss.