Pac-12 tourney drought gnaws at Arizona
At the moment, Arizona appears to be on the outside looking in when it comes to being a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament. But that’s the least of coach Sean Miller’s worries.
His team will be heavily favored to cut down the nets Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden as the Pacific 12 Conference tournament tips off today. The top-seeded Wildcats haven’t won the league tourney since 2002 and for Miller, that’s the more important objective.
“In recent years we’ve played hard and we’ve competed,” Miller said. “The quality of play has been very good. And while we haven’t won the championship, what I look at is our quality of play. How have we played? How hard have we played? How have we competed?
“I’ll go to last year (against UCLA in the title game, a 75-71 loss to the Bruins). That was one of the greatest games I’ve ever been a part of. Unreal talent. UCLA ended up beating us but you left there with your head held high. Are you disappointed you didn’t win the tournament? Yes, but you move on and you almost improve and get that much ready for the NCAA Tournament. That happened to us.”
Arizona, which had star 6-foot-6-inch freshman forward and leading scorer Stanley Johnson selected as the conference’s Freshman of the Year on Monday, is projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs. But if Villanova should slip in the Big East Tournament or Virginia or Duke stumble early in the Atlantic Coast Conference tourney and Arizona gets the job done in Las Vegas, Miller’s team could find itself as a No. 1 seed.
“We really can’t control that,” Miller said. “I think if we start thinking in those terms, you get away from what’s most important.
“Everybody in our conference can beat us. We’ve proven that. To be a 1, 2 or 3, you have to have other people lose and you have to win.”
With the growing parity in college basketball, being a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs isn’t so bad. You still receive protection from the selection committee in where you are placed in the region and the proximity from your campus. In other words, Arizona should remain in the West provided it takes care of business in Las Vegas this week. The Wildcats’ first game is at noon Thursday against the winner of today’s first-round game between No. 8 California and No. 9 Washington State.
While Arizona knows it’s playing next week in the NCAA Tournament, Utah and Oregon are also likely to make the field of 68. If the Pac-12 is looking for a fourth team, it could be UCLA. The Bruins are 19-12 and are the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. Steve Alford’s team will play at 2:30 p.m. Thursday against today’s first-round contest winner between No. 5 Arizona State and No. 12 Southern California. The Bruins have won three straight and would likely need to make it to Saturday’s championship game. To do that, they’ll probably have to beat Arizona on Friday in the semifinals.
But Miller will worry about that if and when Arizona faces UCLA. He is concerned about his guys performing and if the way the Wildcats have played recently is any indication, Miller has much to be pleased with.
“We want to be playing our best (now) and if you watched us recently, you can say we probably are,” Miller said of his team, which has won eight straight and has averaged 82 points while allowing just 58 per game during the streak. “I think everyone’s more established in their role and our young guys are better.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
WHEN: Wednesday through Saturday
WHERE: MGM Grand Garden
WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE: California vs. Washington State, noon; Soutthern California vs. Arizona State, 2:30 p.m.; Colorado vs. Oregon State, 6 p.m.; Washington vs. Stanford, 8:30 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Network (334) Wednesday-Friday; ESPN (30) Friday-Saturday
