Arizona was able to make noise in the Big 12 Tournament and made it to the title game facing off against top-seed Houston. After battling through the whole game, the Wildcats fell 72-64, but helped their stock ahead of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Kansas and Texas Tech.

Thanks to the body of work, Arizona (22-12) earned itself a 4-seed in the tourney and will face Akron (28-6) in the Wildcats' opening round.

Before the Big 12 Tournament, Arizona had lost ow of its last three games to close out the regular season. But during the conference tournament the Wildcats built up their resume and fix some of the defensive issues and offensive problems they showed during the regulars season.

A lot of the turnaround was due to the play of Caleb Love, who averaged 19 points per game and was 49% from the field on 43 attempts.

"The moment we shower, leave this locker room, it's on to the next thing. We're excited to be participating in the NCAA Tournament. It's an honor. It's something you should never take for granted," said head coach Tommy Lloyd after the team's loss to Houston.

"It's really hard to do. We're proud we were able to compete for a conference championship today. We just want to get it done. We'll move forward. We'll move forward, and I can't wait to see who's line pops up tomorrow. We will be excited to meet them next Thursday or Friday."

Lloyd became the first Arizona coach to win 20-plus games every year in his first four season with the program. During that time, the Wildcats have been a No. 1 seed, No. 2 seed (twice) and now a 4-seed in this season's tournament.

Overall, Arizona's record in the tournament is 4-3 with a first round lost to Princeton, which marked the second time as a program the Wildcats lost to a 15-seed in the dance.

Overall in the East Region, Duke was the No. 1 seed with Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona and Oregon as the Top 5 seeds in that section of the bracket.

Out of all the east opponents, Arizona has faced Duke, Wisconsin, Baylor and BYU during the regular season. The Wildcats lost against both the Blue Devils and the Badgers in the solo matchup and went 3-1 in games against the Bears and the Cougars in conference games.

Arizona's history of the tournament has seen the Wildcats face off several times against Wisconsin in the dance with two losses in the Elite Eight and a record of 1-3 in March Madness.

Plus, there is a high chance the Wildcats match up against old conference foe/rival Oregon in the second round of the tournament. Arizona would have revenge of its mind due to the fact that the last time the two programs faced off was in the Pac-12 Tournament and the Ducks walked away with an upset win 67-59 over UA.

This will be the last dance for Caleb Love, Trey Townsend and Anthony Dell'Orso as all three players are out of eligibility after the season.

Arizona's game against Akron will take place in Seattle, Wa. on Friday with a time for tip off yet to be determined. The station of the game will be announced at a later date as well.

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