A confident Kirk Hinrich kept shooting — and kept missing — Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I was getting good looks and I was shooting in rhythm. They just weren’t going in,” Hinrich, Kansas University’s senior guard, said after missing eight of 10 three-point tries in the No. 6-rated Jayhawks’ 91-74 loss to No. 1 Arizona.

He finished with 15 points off 6-of-17 shooting. It was his second consecutive cold outing, coming three days after he hit three of 13 shots in a one-point loss at Colorado.

“They were content to let us shoot outside shots. I turned down some shots trying to get it inside,” said Hinrich, who had four assists and two turnovers against UA’s zone defense.

He’s not going to dwell on personal numbers heading into Monday’s 8 p.m. home battle against league powerhouse Texas. The Longhorns are 13-2 and 4-0 in the Big 12 Conference after Saturday’s 76-55 home win over Missouri.

“We need to step up and get a win,” Hinrich said after KU fell to 13-5 overall, 3-1 in the league. “Every team goes through adversity. We’ve got to accept we’re not playing as well as we can and get this turned around.”

Sophomore guard Keith Langford, who had 22 points the first half en route to a career-high 27, was ready to put Saturday’s loss behind him.

“I hate to say it doesn’t mean anything,” he said of the Arizona game, “but Monday is a conference game. If we lose Monday, I’ll have a long face. This was a marker to see where our team was. Monday is the Big 12. If we win and go 4-1 (in league), I’ll be happy.”

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Halftime ceremonies: Somebody asked KU coach Roy Williams if he would have been better off heading straight to the locker room instead of staying on the court for the start of Paul Pierce’s jersey-retirement ceremony.

“That’s not true,” Williams said. “The halftime lasts 15 minutes. The first five minutes of every halftime I’m taking my coat off and drinking a Coca-Cola. At the 10-minute mark I go with my team. During those three minutes (to start halftime) my staff is together talking. I come in at 12 minutes. I talk to my staff two minutes before I go see my team. That part has not changed.”

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Table talk: UA coach Lute Olson, concerned about a clock issue, visited the scorer’s table after the first-half buzzer sounded.

It seems the clock was reset at 4.8 seconds, then was stopped at 4.5 when KU’s Jeff Hawkins was called for a foul. Olson thought more than 3/10ths of a second had elapsed prior to the ball being inbounded and Hawkins committing a foul. After an official at the scorer’s table told Olson the referees started the clock with their battery packs, he nodded and left the area.

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This, that: An official asked Williams to tell KU’s fans not to bang their ThunderStix together during UA free throws. It’s against the rules, and the Jayhawks could have been given a technical foul had the fans not stopped. … Arizona snapped KU’s 25-game home win streak. KU’s last home loss was 79-71 to Iowa State on Feb. 17, 2001. … KU had won 23 straight nonconference home games. The last loss to a out-of-conference foe at Allen Fieldhouse was to Iowa, 85-81, on Dec. 8, 1998. … Langford’s 22 first-half points tie for the most scored in a half by a KU player in the Williams era. Terry Brown had 22 in the second half against N.C. State on Jan. 5, 1991.

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Halsteader happy: Halstead’s Dennis Latimore was clearly chilled by the Allen Fieldhouse environment and his return to the Sunflower State, but he said he wasn’t second-guessing his decision to choose Arizona over Kansas.

“I think they have a great tradition here, great fans, it was packed — the best place we’ve played in so far,” said Latimore, who didn’t score or shoot in six minutes of action. “But I knew that during the recruiting process. It’s good to be back home and even better to get the win.”

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Recruit on hand: Steven Hill, a 6-foot-11 junior from Branson (Mo.) High, attended as part of his official recruiting visit. Hill is considering KU, Missouri, Arkansas and others.