BOULDER, Colo. — Security guards and staffers stiffly roped off Colorado’s student section and the postgame handshake line Sunday, but there was really no point.
There was no court storm. No reason to hassle a team losing its seventh straight game, 67-60, to Colorado, as Arizona did on Sunday at the CU Events Center.
There were no giddy fans crowding the floor, like the ones who bumped UA center Kaleb Tarczewski three years earlier, prompting sharp criticism from UA coach Sean Miller that led to a court-storming fine structure from the Pac-12.
So this time, while CU fans happily climbed out of the arena and into the snowy night, the Wildcats were left alone to walk off the floor and deeper into their history books.
Seven straight losses. That’s where the Wildcats are now, having lost more consecutive straight games than at any time since 1982-83, the year before Lute Olson arrived at Arizona.
Olson never lost more than six in a row, which happened once during his rebuilding year of 1983-84, and Miller hadn’t lost more than three in a row in 15 seasons as a head coach until this stretch. Even guard Dylan Smith, who had 16 points and a defensive effort that Miller commended, said he’d never been a part of a streak like this.
Nobody around the UA program has, really, at least in the last 35 years.
This is Arizona, right? Isn’t that what they say on the video board before McKale Center games?
“It’s hard. And it’s particularly hard at a place like Arizona where we have such a great tradition,” Miller said. “And we’re used to winning. But these are our circumstances and I think for any player, team, coach, it’s fun to be in college basketball when things are going your way. When things aren’t going your way, that’s really the true test.
“I think this coming week, the following week and then the final week, my hope is that maybe we can be at our best. Maybe we can get Brandon Williams back down the stretch. I think that alone makes a big, big difference. But until that happens, and if that happens, we have to stay on course and if we stay on course we’re on, we’ll break through.”
Arizona forward Ryan Luther, right, blocks a shot by Colorado guard D’Shawn Schwartz as Arizona’s Chase Jeter tries to help.
Certainly, the Wildcats have a potential cure coming up Thursday, with a home date against California, which has lost all 13 of its Pac-12 games so far.
But for now, at a place where they historically struggle even with much more successful teams, the Wildcats had to deal without Williams and mostly without backup guard Alex Barcello, who had probably his best game of the season at Utah on Thursday only to bruise his knee and be of minimal help Sunday.
Barcello needed help getting off the court when he was hurt in the first half, then wore ice on it until halftime. While he returned briefly in the second half, Barcello wound up scoreless, with an assist and a steal.
That left UA with basically seven contributing players. Colorado had only one more, playing just eight, but that group was notably more efficient on both ends of the floor.
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The Buffs shot 55.8 percent from the field, the fifth time in UA’s past six games that an opponent has surpassed the 50-percent mark, and outrebounded Arizona 31-24.
Long a believer that defenses drive success, Miller appeared resigned to what his defense, his roster, has become.
They did the best they could, he said. Basically.
“I thought our guys gave great effort,” Miller said. “It’s just kind of who we are. You know, defense is a lot of things — it’s depth, size — and around the basket we don’t have great size. We’re just thin right now in terms of our overall depth.”
Arizona forward Ira Lee pulls in a rebound as Colorado forward Evan Battey defends. It was one of two rebounds for Lee. He also scored seven points in 18 minutes in the Wildcats’ 67-60 loss.
The Wildcats’ lack of depth and overall ability was no more evident than early in the second half Sunday.
Trailing by six points at halftime, the Wildcats briefly tied it at 36 after Chase Jeter scored three times inside and Ryan Luther also scored under the basket with 15:35 to go. But Colorado guard McKinley Wright quickly put the Buffs back up 43-36 by scoring the next seven points all by himself, and Colorado never trailed again.
“They kind of stepped back on the pedal,” Smith said.
PHOTOS: Colorado 67, Arizona Wildcats 60, Pac-12 men's basketball
From there, the Buffs took leads of up to 12 points and, just after Arizona cut it to seven with 5:46 left, Wright hit a 3-pointer that pretty much put the Wildcats away with four minutes left, giving Colorado a 62-52 lead.
“That’s really what terrific players do,” Miller said. “He’s not a great 3-point shooter, but you see him get that look in a moment of great meaning and just anticipate that it’s going in. That’s who he is.”
Aside from Jeter’s early second-half scoring, and the looks Luther had from 3, it was difficult for the Wildcats to find that same feeling.
Luther was 4 of 9 from 3, finishing with a team-high 17 points, but it wasn’t enough.
Maybe Thursday something like that will be. And the Wildcats can start looking ahead, instead of backward.
