LAS VEGAS – The Arizona Wildcats learned the kind of lesson Friday that was probably inevitable.
In their 69-65 loss to Butler in the Las Vegas Invitational final at the Orleans Arena, the Wildcats lost standout forward Lauri Markkanen to a foul out with three minutes left. That left them with just seven players, a bunch of inexperience and some crunch-time decisions to make against a veteran opponent.
An easy analysis might suggest the Wildcats simply were tired, having played shorthanded for the second straight day, and using all their energy to go on a 15-2 run that made Friday’s game head into the final minute in a 63-63 tie.
But UA coach Sean Miller said it was something else, missing Markkanen and having to field a late five-man lineup that hadn’t often played together. The result: A contested layup that Parker Jackson-Cartwright missed with 57 seconds left, and a missed 3-pointer from Kobi Simmons with 14 seconds left.
“It’s more a lack of poise,” Miller said. “There was a group of five that were out there playing that normally aren’t playing and we had several little just bad offensive possessions in a row.
“And that hurts your defense because you’re not set. We played with great effort. We did not play with a lot of poise or intelligence down the stretch.”
Arizona held a four-point lead, 61-57, at the end of its 15-2 run, with 3:52 to go – but ended up being outscored by eight points from there.
During that final turnaround, Butler took the lead for good with 29 seconds left when Tyler Wideman broke free for a layup, and picked up a foul from UA guard Kadeem Allen.
Allen said he was simply too late to get in proper position to stop Wideman, who went on to convert the free throw for his go-head 3-point play, giving Butler a 66-63 lead.
“That was all my fault,” Allen said. “I didn’t get back when I was supposed to. I didn’t drop back in and hit him, do what I was supposed to do.”
For Butler (6-0), it was a final breakthrough in a game that was tightly contested throughout the first half and then again at the end.
The Bulldogs built a two-point lead at halftime and went ahead by nine early in the second half, but lost the lead during a UA surge that was in part fueled by freshman guard Kobi Simmons, who scored all 14 of his points after halftime.
“We just said let’s just find a way to do what we do and hope it works — it was as simple as that,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann said.
“We told them to move the ball offensively, we did a little bit of a defensive switch late, we just really focused them on the possessions at hand.
“This was really important for us, because we had some shaky moments for sure in that game. I think our guys found their composure at the right time, and we played well in stretches. But I think Arizona did too. I give them a lot of credit, they’re a good team and really well coached. It’s a quality win for us.”
After Wideman’s 3-point play gave Butler a 66-63 lead, the Bulldogs’ Andrew Chrabascz hit 3 of 4 free throws from there while UA began fouling in the final seconds.
At the end of the first half, Butler pulled off an even more dramatic finish. The Bulldogs raced the ball downcourt with 4.7 seconds left to get a layup from Sean McDermott at the halftime buzzer to take a 36-34 halftime lead.
Butler point guard Tyler Lewis took the inbounds pass and drove to the top of the key before finding McDermott under the right side of the basket.
UA had a chance to go ahead 36-34 itself but Allen missed two free throws with 50 seconds left, and the game stayed tied at 34 until the final basket of the half.
The game stayed close throughout the first half, with both sides shooting well Butler hit 5 of 6 3-pointers through the first 12 minutes of the half.
Arizona was without guard Allonzo Trier for the sixth game this season, meaning his pending eligibility situation has already cost him roughly one-fifth of UA’s regular season.
The loss dropped Arizona to 5-1 entering a home game with Texas Southern on Wednesday, but Miller left on an upbeat note. He spoke to the Wildcats only briefly in the locker room and repeatedly praised their effort during a postgame interview with the Star.
“We fought really hard and that’s the thing I take away from tonight,” Miller said.
“I thought our effort level was outstanding. We showed great resiliency and toughness and played through a couple of times where things were not necessarily going our way. For a young group like we have, I’m very proud of them.”
While Simmons had 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting for the Wildcats, Markkanen had 15 points and five rebounds before he fouled out with 3:10 remaining. It was Markkanen’s first foul out of the season.
“That hurts,” Miller said. “Couple of tough calls went against him. But he’ll learn from it. We’ll learn from it.”
