Texas let Notre Dame drive at will. Irish shooters were open for uncontested shots all afternoon. And in the end Sunday, the Longhorns surrendered 98 points in losing the BB&T Classic final.

Arizona led San Diego State by 19 on Saturday night, were never truly threatened by the Aztecs, but couldn't deliver a knockout punch in a 89-81 victory.

Texas has five practices to learn how to defend one-on-one. Arizona will spend the same week trying to instill a tougher, end-of-game attitude.

We'll see how well each addressed their shortcomings next weekend when Texas arrives in Tucson on Sunday.

Arizona coach Lute Olson spent Saturday's post game telling the Wildcats that the difference between a good and great team is the punishment it inflicts at the end of games. Translation: Putting away a team creates an image.

Arizona, while a perfect 4-0, hasn't shown such dominance for 40 minutes. In the eyes of Olson, it hasn't earned the respect of a dominating No. 1 teams, just yet.

Texas would love to shake the Wildcats, even rattle them from their perch atop college basketball. The Longhorns will get their chance in, perhaps, the marquee game of the week.

"Arizona is a good basketball team but no one is unbeatable," Texas' Deginald Erskin said. "No one will go undefeated this year. As far as the rankings go, we're not worried about who is No. 1."

The Longhorns knew they had their chance to beat Notre Dame in D.C., but didn't defend as well on the perimeter as they should. Throw in a few costly turnovers late, and all the ingredients for an upset were available for the Irish. But Texas is confident that its defense or sloppy play won't be a consistent problem.

The Longhorns remain certain they can get back to the No. 2 ranking they enjoyed, as inflated as it might have been at this point in the season. And they're not afraid to test themselves again.

While the intrigue of a 1-2 matchup was ended with Texas' loss, the Longhorns still have a legit shot to upset the Wildcats if they can somehow defend when pressed one-on-one.

"We've got a week to do a better job defending," Erskin said. "Notre Dame showed us that we've got to do a better job at defending players one-on-one. We wanted to go to the Arizona game as the No. 2 team, but the rankings don't mean as much right now."

Beating Arizona, even at McKale, isn't as impossible as it sounds. Connecticut, Kansas, Oregon and Stanford each handed Arizona a loss in front of its own fans last season. The Wildcats remain a prohibitive favorite right now, but they're not as intimidating as they seemed after an opening-season rout of Western Kentucky.

Texas certainly isn't scared, and relishes the challenge to go up against Arizona. But they'll have to attack the Wildcats, going right at them in the lane. That means Texas sophomore point T.J. Ford must drive the Wildcats' defense, looking to drive-and-dish as much as possible. But that could be tougher if Arizona chooses to press Ford -- something Texas coach Rick Barnes said teams so far have avoided because of Ford's quickness.

"We're going to keep running," Texas assistant Frank Haith said. "Kansas pressed us and that didn't stop us. We'll keep attacking."

As for the Notre Dame loss, Texas had a chance to close out a game it led most of the day. But the Longhorns didn't box out, didn't stop the ball penetration and gave away a costly turnover when Ford misdirected a pass. Closing out teams is a common problem for teams this early in a season. Not making mistakes in the final two minutes is a must, an edge Arizona senior point Jason Gardner gives the Wildcats -- assuming the game comes down to the final minutes.

"These are the kind of games this program wants," Erskin said. "We want to go up against the best."

As good as its season-opening win over Georgia was at the time, Texas still needs another statement game before conference play. Beating Arizona would certainly resonate throughout the Big 12 and the country.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.