LOS ANGELES — Chase Jeter propped his stiff back against the Galen Center bench for the entire game, but he was hardly the only thing that went missing for the Wildcats on Thursday.
In an 80-57 loss to USC, Arizona also couldn’t find its inside scoring. Its outside shooting. The Wildcats also missed their rebounding. And, by the time it was all over, maybe even their confidence.
A little bit of everything, really.
The Wildcats shot a season-worst 27.8 percent from the field and even that number was propped up by some late shooting after UA scored just 19 points on 21.2 percent shooting in the first half.
“With or without (Jeter), we’re two different teams — and the team we have right now without him, we have to make shots,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “A lot of 3s, a lot of jump shots, and we weren’t able to do that. We had one of those miserable nights shooting.”
Stunning might be another way to describe it. Just five days after Arizona hit 13 of 27 3-pointers over Oregon State’s zone defense, the Wildcats hit just 5 of 25 against USC’s zone and missed 18 of their first 20.
Worse, for a team that has generally cut back on 3s in order to maximize their more efficient two-point scores, the Wildcats shot just 31.9 percent from inside the arc. They missed layups, putbacks and an assortment of shots all taken within 10 feet of the basket.
In short, they didn’t look like the confident Arizona teams that had beaten USC five straight times, ever since the Trojans pulled out a four-overtime classic against the Wildcats back in 2015-16.
“It could be” that confidence was an issue, Miller said. “If you have a problem with confidence at Arizona, that’s a bad place to be, you know? We’ve been kicking (butt) in this league for a long time and if making layups is a problem that’s a real big problem.
“Confidence is earned through hard work and performance and you can give certain guys confidence. But at the end of the day, any athlete, it has to come from within and there has to be a belief in themselves. Confidence can’t be like a fever, like it’s there and man, you lost it.”
USC forward Victor Uyaelunmo, left, comes in from behind to try and strip Arizona guard Dylan Smith of the ball in the second half. UA fell to 5-2 in Pac-12 play.
While Jeter was only one guy, it’s possible that his absence socked the Wildcats’ confidence as much as anything. He has been UA’s most consistent player and an undisputed leader, meaning there was more than just a hole in the post without him.
“It was a tough deal,” forward Ira Lee said. “He’s our captain and our only true center. I feel like we battled but made a lot of mistakes and USC is really talented. They’re an older team and really talented and they capitalized on a lot of our mistakes.”
Jeter went through warmups before the game but it became clear he would not play when he barely elevated off the Galen Center floor. Miller said he was trying to work his way back but “just couldn’t do it,” and didn’t express confidence that Jeter would be available Saturday at UCLA, either.
“You know, I don’t know,” Miller said. “We’re kind of evaluating day by day.”
USC forward Bennie Boatwright stretches out over Arizona guard Dylan Smith for a rebound. UA was outrebounded 51-39 in the 80-57 loss.
While Jeter sat out, the Wildcats immediately struggled to get any semblance of offensive rhythm against the USC zone. They missed layups, made only two of their first 20 3-pointers and coughed up three early turnovers that led to seven USC points before the whole avalanche even really started.
Meanwhile, they were hurt defensively, especially, and predictably inside. USC center Nick Rakocevic scored three inside baskets within the first two minutes of the game, then finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Trojans.
WATCH: Sean Miller, Ira Lee react to Arizona's blowout loss against USC
Lee said the Wildcats’ pick-and-roll defense was particularly woeful against Rakocevic, making matters worse.
“Rakocevic was getting great shots and he’s a great player, too,” Lee said.
The loss dropped Arizona to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12 heading into a Saturday night game at UCLA. USC improved to 11-8 and 4-2.
Arizona forward Ira Lee gets a face full of fingers but still rises up to swat away USC forward Nick Rakocevic’s shot. Lee had 12 points in the loss.
Down by 17 at halftime, the Wildcats kept the same margin after eight minutes, with Lee scoring inside to make it 47-30 with 11:47 to go. But at that point, the Wildcats were still shooting poorly (26.3 percent) and had missed all four 3s they took.
Then USC guard Kevin Porter came in and hit two 3s within 50 seconds to give USC 53-33 lead with 10 minutes to go and the Trojans never really had to worry after that point, even after late 3-pointers from Dylan Smith and Brandon Randolph.
While Jeter sat out, Porter returned from a two-game suspension for conduct issues, and Miller said Porter’s return “didn’t really help matters for us either.”
Rakocevic helped cause another problem, too, one that was entirely predictable. Both he and power forward Bennie Boatwright had 12 rebounds each, while wing Shaqquan Aaron had 10 against a UA lineup that started 6-foot-5 Smith against the 6-10 Boatwright at power forward.
Final margin on the glass: USC 51 rebounds, Arizona 39, the Wildcats’ second-worst rebounding margin of the season after being outrebounded by 32 against Baylor last month.
“That’s the smallest team in 15 years that I’ve ever had on the court,” Miller said. “We didn’t have any size. And when you don’t have size and you’re playing against Bennie Boatwright and Nick Rakocevic and those guys, it is a tall order to block out.
“They were the bigger, stronger, deeper, tougher team on the glass.”
And just about everywhere else, too.
