Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd discussed the playing floor at the Big XII Tournament a few hours before the league chose to change from the glass court with LED capabilities to a more traditional wooden one for the semifinals and final of the conference tournament.
Big XII Commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement late on Thursday night announcing that the conference will transition to a hardwood court for the remainder of the tournament to provide the student-athletes with the greatest level of comfort on a huge stage this weekend.
Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68, an Arizona alum, reported Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, Bill Self of Kansas and Kelvin Sampson of Houston voted to transition to the hard court for the remainder of the Big XII Tournament. T.J. Otzelberger of Iowa State voted to keep the court that was in use per Goodman.
Iowa State beat Arizona State 91-42 in the second round and Texas Tech 75-53 in the quarterfinals. Arizona beat Central Florida 81-59, Houston defeated BYU 73-66 and Kansas eliminated TCU 78-73 in the other three quarterfinals on Friday.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark: “After consultation with the coaches of our four Semifinal teams, I have decided that in order to provide our student-athletes with the greatest level of comfort on a huge stage this weekend, we will transition to a hardwood court for the… https://t.co/7VqtyHckEf
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2026
"I didn't play, I coached....I was on fine footing. You can ask these guys...They'll be able to give you a better answer about that....We'll play on asphalt with double rims...If the other team has to...deal with it as well. I'll let the I'll let the powers be...make those higher up decisions."Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd
Tommy Lloyd deflects question
Lloyd seemed fine with either way with the decision the Big XII would make regarding the court. The report from Goodman shows that Lloyd preferred the switch. Ultimately, Lloyd deferred the question to Brayden Burries and Motiejus Krivas, who represented Arizona at the postgame press conference.
Arizona and Iowa State will tip off at 4 PM Mountain Standard Time on ESPN. Houston and Kansas will tip off at 6:30 PM MST, or a half hour after Arizona and Iowa State conclude. The Big XII Tournament Championship Game is at 3:00 PM MST on Saturday on ESPN.