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They won by only 13.

On an afternoon when No. 2 Michigan lost its first game of the season, leaving Arizona likely with a tighter grip on its No. 1 ranking, the Wildcats will take it: An 86-73 victory over a physical team that kept them perfect at 16-0.

“We don't have hubris,� UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We understand these games are going to be hard. We don't expect to come in here, have a 20 point lead, then build to a 40-point lead. This is not how it goes.

“We're always optimistic things are going to work out, but we're realistic in knowing how tough it's going to be. I just wanted to make sure our guys understood that, and they've done a great job all season when they've been pushed and tested.�

This time, all the Wildcats really had to do was look at a few numbers and maybe some video: TCU hadn’t lost in regulation since mid-November – doing so by only four points to Michigan, of all teams --- and features a physical style that it was expected to use to compensate for its significant height disadvantage against the Wildcats.

TCU double-teamed UA center Motiejus Krivas, who had scored a career-high 25 points on Wednesday against Kansas State, while Krivas, backup post Tobe Awaka and guard Jaden Bradley were all slowed down with foul trouble.

Forward Koa Peat helped the Wildcats make up for all that with 20 points and seven rebounds, but the Wildcats still saw their lead cut to single digits twice in the second half.

“We knew how hard it was going to be,� Lloyd said. “I know how good of a coach Jamie (Dixon of TCU) is. He's been doing this for a long time, and I knew how physical the game was going to be.

“(TCU is) a team that has a lot of fight in it, and they're well coached. They have a lot of pride as a program, they're playing at home, and we expected a response out of them. When things looked like they were going well for us, we knew that they were. They were going to keep coming. And credit to them, they did.�

While Lloyd said Peat responded well to his challenge to play well on the road, Krivas managed eight points and 10 rebounds, and Bradley scored all 17 of his points in the second half, playing only 22 total minutes because of foul trouble.

Anthony Dell’Orso added another 17 points off the bench while making 3 of 6 3-point shots.

“They did a great job with our posts and doubled big Mo,� Bradley said. “But we’ve got Tobe and Koa. They did a great job. They were forces down there and we were able to get some open 3s. We trusted our open 3s, knowing they were going to offensive rebound (any misses). Just trusting what they gave us.�

Arizona wound up shooting 50.7% from the field while hitting 7 of 16 3-point shots and outrebounding the much smaller Horned Frogs 38-32.

Up 43-27 at halftime, Arizona led its lead slip to single digits twice in the second half, to the delight of many in the near sellout crowd at the 6,800-seat arena, even as about a quarter of the crowd was rooting for the Wildcats.

TCU cut it to 65-58 with seven minutes left when Tanner Toolson hit a 3-pointer but Dell’Orso responded with a 3-pointer of his own 32 seconds later and the Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

UA guard Brayden Burries put the Horned Frogs away when he stole the ball from TCU’s Brock Harding, then fed it to Peat for a dunk that gave UA an 86-67 lead with 90 seconds left.

“I thought we could come out and disrupt a little bit with our defense, but we simply didn't,� TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “They were comfortable in half court, comfortable in the transition and comfortable on the offensive glass.

“They're good. They're really good. They've beaten everybody by pretty good margins. So I guess to some degree, we had chances.�

In the first half, Peat had 12 points and five rebounds in the first half to help Arizona take a 43-27 halftime lead.

The Wildcats shot 47.2% while holding TCU to 32.1% shooting and outrebounding the Horned Frogs 22-15. Arizona also scored 11 points off seven TCU turnovers.

The Wildcats held TCU's top 3-point threat, guard Jayden Pierre, to seven points and 1-for-3 3-point shooting before halftime and Pierre didn’t get off a single 3 in the second half. Another focal point of UA’s defnese, forward Micha Robinson had just five points on 1-for-7 shooting while picking up his own four fouls.

The Horned Frogs instead were led by Toolson, who had 20 points while hitting 3 of 5 3s

Initially mired in a tight game in which both teams combined to miss the first five shots, Arizona broke out with an 18-3 run that gave them a 26-9 lead 10 minutes into the game – despite an Flagrant 1 foul called on Krivas for pushing off on a TCU player. The foul resulted in TCU's Jace Posey going to the line for two free throws, though he made only one.

The Wildcats also briefly lost Awaka after he appeared to tweak his left ankle while diving into a crowd near the basket in pursuit of the ball. Awaka left the bench briefly while UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie tested him and he soon returned to the game.

Awaka finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and Kokoskie said afterward that Awaka would be fine.

“Tobe's a warrior,� Lloyd said. “I don't know exactly what happened, but I know he was available to play, and he closed the game. He’s really valuable to us.�