Arizona will have a chance to make up plenty of ground in the Pac-12 Tournament. But this is what the Wildcats’ loss to UCLA on Saturday means as of now:
Oregon will likely be the Pac-12 Tournament’s No. 1 seed regardless of whether UA wins at ASU on Saturday. The Ducks, who are tied with UA at 15-2, only have to play Oregon State and they hold the tiebreaker with Arizona because of their Feb. 4 win over the Wildcats in Eugene.
That means the Wildcats could face UCLA in a 2-vs.-3 Pac-12 semifinal on Friday, March 10 (tipoff 9:30 p.m. on ESPN if you want to go ahead and make plans) in Las Vegas if seeds hold up.
Assuming Oregon wins at OSU, UA will be the No. 2 seed if it beats ASU or UCLA loses either of its home games to the Washington schools next weekend; UCLA will be the No. 2 seed if it sweeps and UA loses to ASU, because the teams would be tied at 15-3 and UCLA would get a tiebreaker edge because it owns a win over first-place Oregon.
Oregon also holds an even bigger edge over UA for the right to stay in the West Region in the NCAA Tournament (while it is no longer a foregone conclusion that Gonzaga will be the No. 1 in the West after the Zags lost to BYU, that's irrelevant to the Pac-12 placement because only one of the top four Pac-12 teams can stay in the West).
The NCAA selection committee revealed on Feb. 11 that it ranked Oregon over Arizona, putting the Ducks in the West and UA in the Midwest, and that was when the Wildcats had a one-game lead over the Ducks.
Arizona also cannot win the outright Pac-12 regular-season title by beating ASU if Oregon beats OSU, and it won’t know what happens at Gill Coliseum until after it plays ASU (UA-ASU starts at 2 p.m. Saturday and the Oregon schools tipoff at 4 p.m.).
UCLA may have pulled itself closer to being the second team placed in the NCAA Tournament out of the Pac-12, since it has now a comparable overall record with the Wildcats and a tie in head-to-head play with UA. That means the Wildcats could be sent even farther away for the second weekend (the first still will likely be in Salt Lake City because of the pod system). (In any case, UCLA looks like a legit Final Four contender).
But, of course, all that could change if UA faces and beats UCLA in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament…
Speaking of which, UA coach Sean Miller is hoping to bring a different team to that game, if it happens:
“I know the team that we lost to and they’re a great team and just like when we went to Pauley Pavilion and beat them there, I’m sure it was a tough moment for them,” Miller said. “But they found a way to respond and I’m sure in some ways they’re probably better because it happened.
“We have to do the same thing. In two weeks, we could find ourselves in Las Vegas playing this very same team, and hopefully we’ll be more ready.”
UA’s first three Pac-12 champions under Miller had four, three and two losses, but Miller said he was not surprised to find the Wildcats at 15-2 and still having Oregon right there with them.
Oregon was picked to win the Pac-12 in the conference’s official media poll, Arizona was picked second and UCLA third, which is exactly how the Pac-2 Tournament seedings look now.
“We knew before the season started that Oregon was a 1 (NCAA Tournament) seed a year ago and they return a lot,” Miller said. “The players they’ve added in addition to who they’ve returned are really good so I think you’re looking at a one seed. And I’m not sure if you’re look at UCLA that they’re not in the conversation for those types of seeds.
“Obviously our season speaks for itself. But it’s up to us to put this behind us in some way and in the other ways to learn from it and a week from today to be better, healthy and ready to go and again we gave up 14 second shots, 11 in one half. We wouldn’t be 26-4 if that’s happened to us throughout the season.”
Miller said the Wildcats can control their sense of perspective. Even with the loss to UCLA, they’ve still only lost four games, all to teams ranked in the Top 25.
“When you’re in a situation like ours, when you’re 26-4 and 15-2, there are a lot of great moments that we've had and every once in a while people can distract players on your team,” Miller said. “It’s `You need to play more minutes.’ ‘Coach doesn’t know what he’s doing.' Etcetera, etcetera.
"I think my worry and any coach at this time when you enter March with a lot at stake is to keep our team on point, to make sure we have our circle and our locker room and we’re focused like we’ve been getting better, preparing for the next game and in moments like this you learn a lot about the character of your team, about the character of the families that you coach, you learn a lot about yourself as a coaching staff.”
Miller and the two players UA presented for interviews, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Allonzo Trier, expressed plenty of regard for Kadeem Allen, who played his last game at McKale (likely along with multiple others).
Miller: “I certainly didn’t want one game to take away from what I think is one of the greatest kids I’ve ever coached and that’s Kadeem. He comes from a really big family. He’s struggled growing up. He found his way to a junior college and he decided to come to Arizona. Was national junior college player of the year, and we redshirted him. Never said a word. Grew and in my mind he’s become a man out here in Tucson. He has two classes left to graduate. He’s gonna be the first person in his family to graduate and he’s one of the best defenders we’ve ever had. Our team’s leader, and heart and soul.
“Kadeem’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached. He’s about one thing and that’s team. He embodies so many qualities that all of us love about sports. Obviously I want him to see it through.”
Trier: “I told him I love him and thanked him for everything. His effort. His leadership. Everything. Everything he brings every day. The mistakes he covers up for us. Everything he brings to the team. We’re all sorry we didn’t get it done for him.”
Jackson-Cartwright: “He means everything. He epitomizes the identity of our program and everything we do every day. He comes to work every day just working hard, sets the tone. We’re not here 26-4 without his leadership and how hard he plays each day.”
Our full five-person coverage is attached as are PDFs of the box scores and updated UA stats.
