Hansen: Stock in defense keeps Arizona afloat

In a Q&A capsule for the 1987-88 Pitt basketball media guide, freshman point guard Sean Miller was asked “what are your career plans?”

He answered: “To own my own business.”

Bingo.

Miller operates the $30 million-a-year Arizona basketball industry, and on Saturday night his team experienced every conceivable business cycle in 40 minutes.

The Wildcats went through a depression, a recovery, a recession, a rally, a relapse and a readjustment.

Their fans went through a panic.

Arizona beat UCLA 57-47 even though the Wildcats missed their first 11 shots of the second half as a strange feeling — fear — returned to McKale Center the first time since Gonzaga left town on Dec. 6.

It was foreign — Miller called it “bizarre” — and totally off script.

Miller was so edgy that he removed his suit jacket with 1:36 remaining, his club teetering, sputtering, experiencing its worst shooting performance (34 percent) of the year.

He never does that.

“I wanted to jump in there and start playing,” the UA coach said. “I’m sure I looked stupid, but it won’t be the last time.”

Miller put his coat back on in the final 50 seconds, when the Bruins were exhausted and spent, having scored just eight points in the final 11 minutes.

It had to be an NCAA record for a coach going from freaked out to feeling fine — 40 seconds — which gives you an idea of the potential for insanity in college basketball.

Ultimately, the Wildcats won

because they played defense with such purpose and stamina that the Bruins all but disappeared into a black hole.

Nobody wearing powder blue was open in the final 15 minutes, at least not when it mattered. Incredibly, Arizona led 41-39 when it was shooting 29 percent from the field.

Who does that?

It made more sense than what UCLA’s leading player, Norman Powell, said after the game.

“I thought the guys gave great effort tonight and really competed and gave them everything we’ve got,” he said. “We are playing great basketball.”

Great basketball? The Bruins had one offensive rebound. One. They played the old first-man-down-court-gets-to-shoot offense.

Sophomore guard Bryce Alford, who has attempted 83 more shots than Stanley Johnson this year, was the reason the Bruins stayed close. He’s the same guy who went through a 2-for-16 game at Colorado, followed by an 0-for-10 game at Utah and a 5-for-13 shooting game at Stanford.

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If Alford’s shots are falling, the Bruins have a chance.

“He has the ultimate green light, if you give him any space, he’s shooting it,” said UA guard T.J. McConnell. “I think he did a good job of shooting it tonight.

“Credit him and his game and how hard he plays.”

Ultimately, it was McConnell, who scored the game’s final six points, who made the right shots at the right time.

It was such a freaky game.

Super Bowl football referee Bill Vinovich, at McKale for a rare Pac-12 basketball assignment, tossed the opening tip at 7:07 p.m.

Arizona didn’t score until it was 7:19.

The Wildcats didn’t lead until 7:28.

Johnson did not score until 7:46.

By then, somehow, Arizona led 25-16 and UCLA, which had failed to take advantage of a historically bad Arizona start, was lost in space, outscored 22-18 in the first half by Dusan Ristic and Gabe York.

You could see how the Bruins fell behind Kentucky 25-2 in December and haven’t beaten a good team all season. If you play willful defense against a team of it’s-my-turn-to-shoot players, it should ultimately determine the winner.

The most difficult games of the season remain, including Saturday’s battle of heavyweights in Salt Lake City and at the Pac-12 tournament. Like most coaches, Miller hopes to use Saturday’s struggle against UCLA as a teaching point.

“Because of the way we played tonight, we will win a game in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

“This is the best lesson for these guys.”

Arizona became stagnant against Steve Alford’s zone, which defies every principle he was taught by Bob Knight during Alford’s All-American days at Indiana, 1983-87. Knight never played a zone. Alford, making the best of what he has, slowed Arizona’s offense to a crawl with a zone on Saturday.

“It was ugly,” said McConnell.

It’s typical of the way the Wildcats get every opponents’ best shot and last ounce of preparation.

Just when you think it might be easy, you’re yanking off your suit coat and turning 50 shades of gray.

Before a composed Miller left the media room at McKale, he asked a rhetorical question.

“When you think about the last couple of shots (McConnell made), if they don’t go in, what happens?”

If Wildcats have a game like that next month, in the NCAA tournament, you can start the bus. They’ll be done.