Arizona's loss to Providence cause for concern for UA fans
Ten reasons Arizona lost to Santa Clara — oops, Providence — and created a seismic state of worry in Tucson late Friday night:
1. Arizona committed 21 turnovers. Its worst turnover night a year ago was 18. A season earlier it was 17.
2. The UA is shooting 28.3 percent from three-point distance. The worst season in school history was 31.9 in 2005-06. They were 3 for 14 — 21.4 percent — on Friday.
3. Remember Brandon Ashley? His early departure to the NBA D-League was treated with a shrug. He would be a beast on a team without a beast.
4. The club’s top NBA prospect and most fluid scorer, Ray Smith, tore his ACL on Oct. 22.
5. No D, Part I: Providence shot exactly 50 percent afield. A year ago, only Wisconsin (55.6), Oregon State (51.3), Stanford (50.0) and Arizona State (50.0) shot as well. Arizona lost three of the games, only coming away a winner against the Cardinal.
6. Injured center Kaleb Tarczewski never took off his warmup jacket. His record as a UA starter is 98-16.
7. Providence senior point guard Kris Dunn chose to return for a final season, even though he was a projected lottery pick last spring. He is Gary Payton II with a jumper. Dunn outscored the entire UA team 11-7 in the final 3:58.
8. Arizona point guards combined to commit seven turnovers. A year ago, T.J. McConnell’s worst night was five turnovers — and it happened just once.
9. No D, Part II: A night earlier, Santa Clara’s Jared Brownridge scored 44 points and made 15 foul shots against Arizona. On Friday, in a loss to Evansville, Brownridge scored 19 and made just six free throws.
10. Maybe it wasn’t an upset. The projected first division of the Pac-12 is struggling mightily. Cal lost to Richmond. UCLA was beaten by Monmouth. Oregon State lost at home to Valpo. Utah lost to Miami by 24 points. Oregon hasn’t played anybody yet.
The UA started the last three seasons 12-0, 21-0 and 14-0. By comparison, 5-1, losing to a non-marquee team, is worrisome.
But over the long haul, Arizona has as good a chance as anyone to win a piece of the Pac-12 title.
