The Jayhawks, now a pedestrian 21-12, were going to hold that underdog designation a) only if they won Thursday in the Big 12 quarterfinals against Wildcats and b) because they had backed into their current plight to begin with.

Kansas basketball’s players had to come to terms Thursday with a Big 12 Conference tournament loss against Arizona. Here’s what some of them said.

Henri Veesaar and KJ Lewis scored 19 points apiece and Arizona pulled away late to beat Kansas 88-77 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinal at T-Mobile Center.