* Arizona’s students are on holiday break, but head coach Tommy Lloyd made sure to thank the fans for the atmosphere in McKale on Monday night.
“I want to thank our fans,” Lloyd said. “It’s another Christmas break game. No students, but you basically have over 14,000 fans. You’ve done that a couple of games in a row, that’s just that’s not normal in this day and age. People are attached to their phones or prefer the comfort of a couch, so it’s pretty special and it’s great.
“My next challenge would be like, I hope we can find a way to sell out every Big 12 game. We need McKale to be a zoo. It needs to be a zoo in there, not only with the Zona Zoo, but all our native fans coming out of the woodwork, and they need to bring it. It’s a special place. The special place derives from our fans, and them bringing that effort and that energy to the arena, and it just makes it a great community event. I’m thankful for a great turnout tonight from our fans.”…