Tommy Lloyd doesn't want Arizona to play victim for how Wisconsin game was called

The 103-88 Arizona loss at Wisconsin on Friday night can teach Arizona multiple valuable lessons. In his post game press conference Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd felt his team didn't adjust to referees calling a tight game and doesn't want the Wildcats to play the victim in the loss.

Arizona was called for 32 fouls and Wisconsin 31 in a game that resembled old-school Pac-10 referees. There were multiple reasons Arizona lost on Friday night. The closely called game was just a part of it. Arizona was 28-40 from the free-throw line and Wisconsin finished 41-47.

Arizona could not stop Wisconsin guard John Tonje. Tonje scored 41 points on 8-14 from the floor, 4-6 threes and 21-22 from the free throw line while adding six rebounds and one assist. Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 22 points on 7-14 from the floor and had the most attempts and free throws made going 7-13.

The ability to adjust to how a game is being called will be crucial for Arizona throughout the season. Arizona hosts Duke on Friday and plays in the Battle 4 Atlantis later this month. The Big XII is notorious for being a physical league. Referees are likely to call the game completely opposite of Friday night in Madison.

"You have to adjust how the game's being called... We've probably had officials now 10 times and that was definitely the tightest we felt it called... We're getting maybe officials from different parts of the country... It was definitely the tightest and and we got to adjust we're the team on the road...That's basketball and...you don't play the victim and and you don't just...double down on fouling harder and then getting frustrated when they call it. You got to play cleaner basketball and we didn't adjust to how tight the game was being called and...Wisconsin was able to take advantage of that all day."

- Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd

In its first big test of the season, Arizona was mostly dominated throughout the game. There was an 11-minute stretch that spanned the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, during which Arizona outscored Wisconsin 34-16. In the remaining 29 minutes, Wisconsin outscored Arizona 87-56.

The Battle 4 Atlantis will be the biggest test for Arizona with three games in three days against three different teams. How well Arizona adjusts to the different styles and potentially the referees will be important. Lloyd should have his team's attention during practice this week before hosting Duke on Friday night.

Duke is 249th nationally averaging 12.5 made free throws per game and 295th with 16.5 attempts per game. Lloyd also stated he felt Arizona drove into the chests of the Wisconsin players too often. Lloyd also stated he did not love how the game was being called, but that's how and Wisconsin was smarter in how they attacked the game.

Following Duke, Arizona plays Davidson in its first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Davidson is 56th nationally in free throws made and 53rd in attempts. Hopefully entering the game versus Duke, Arizona learned how to adjust to the way referees are calling a game.