TEMPE — Few things about Arizona’s 95-88 overtime loss to ASU played out as expected Thursday, except maybe the result.
Blown to bits at USC and UCLA a week ago, and shorthanded again Thursday, the Wildcats instead put up one of their better efforts of the season and nearly avoided their third straight loss after Justin Coleman hit a 25-footer with 24 seconds left in regulation.
Meanwhile, instead of going without center Chase Jeter again, the Wildcats got him back, but instead went without freshman guard Brandon Williams, who experienced a sore knee after the UCLA game.
The Wildcats completely flipped the script statistically this time, substituting better offense for worse defense in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last week’s trip to Los Angeles.
The UA shot just 30.4 percent in last week’s losses, but this time shot 40.3 percent overall and hit 14 of 28 3-pointers.
While all that offense was going on, their defense fell apart. A stout man-to-man devotee, UA coach Sean Miller even used some possessions of zone — something he referred to as “a secondary type of defense” — but ASU still scored against that, shooting 55.6 percent overall while hitting 9 of 19 3-pointers.
Guard Remy Martin led the way for ASU, hitting 5 of 7 3s en route to a game-high 31 points, while guard Rob Edwards was 3 for 6 from beyond the arc and forward Zylan Cheatham kept everybody fed with his 22 rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end.
“We just couldn’t guard the guys in front of us,” Miller said. “They all had their way with us.”
That’s why, in the end, the Wildcats bused home with their third straight loss in hand. The defeat dropped UA to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-12, with a week to prepare for yet another potentially difficult game, on Thursday against first-place Washington.
The Wildcats at least have some positive momentum offensively to build on over the next week after many of them suffered notably poor shooting efforts in L.A. Most notably, Ryan Luther went from 0 for 5 from 3 in L.A. to 5 of 8 on Thursday, hitting a pair of late corner 3s that helped UA tie the game late in regulation, while Coleman went from 1 for 6 in two games in L.A. to 3 of 5 Thursday, and Dylan Smith went from 3 for 11 to 3 for 5.
“Yeah, definitely,” Lee said when asked if it was a positive experience despite the loss. “We hit shots. We hit shots as a group. That’s positive and we’ve got something to look forward to next week.”
But Coleman went 0 for 3 without an assist in overtime after his big shot at the end of regulation. Smith fouled out with 2:45 left in regulation, leaving the Wildcats without another shooter when they needed desperate help in overtime.
Arizona missed the shooting of Williams for the entire game because of his right knee. Miller said Williams experienced some soreness after the L.A. trip. He didn’t know if it was related to the congenital issue on the same right knee that kept Williams out for nearly a year in high school.
Jeter was still only at about “40 or 50” percent while playing 31 minutes, going 1 for 5 from the field but collecting eight rebounds, Miller said.
With UA’s shorthanded roster possibly running low on energy after 40 minutes, ASU scored the first seven points of overtime, getting a layup from Cheatham, two free throws and a 3-pointer from Martin, with Martin’s top-of-the-key shot giving ASU a 90-83 lead with 2:58 remaining. During those first two minutes, Coleman missed a jumper and Jeter missed two free throws for the Wildcats.
ASU all but clinched it after Alex Barcello missed a pair of free throws with ASU leading 94-88 when 21 seconds remained in overtime.
The game was tied at 76 entering the final two minutes of regulation but, after ASU had built a five-point lead, Brandon Randolph put in a layup with 1:03 left as he fell from the right side of the baseline, while Coleman stepped back to hit his 25-footer that tied it at 83.
ASU couldn’t put together a play on its final possession, with Luguentz Dort missing a 3 as time appeared to expire. An officiating review put 0.4 seconds back on the clock, but UA’s inbound pass from Luther batted off the hands of Jeter at midcourt and the game went into overtime.
Trailing 36-33 at halftime, UA hit 12 of its first 19 shots in the second half to take leads of up to seven points with just over six minutes left. But Wells Fargo Arena became charged up in the final minutes, with Cheatham’s emphatic dunk giving ASU a 75-72 lead with 3:17 left to play.
In the first half, Arizona shot just 32.4 percent from the field, although the Wildcats managed to make 7 of 16 3-pointers and score eight second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds.
In the end, all that shooting only left Miller with a frustrated feeling.
“I think that’s the most disappointing thing about tonight because we haven’t had an offensive night like that scoring the ball, being efficient, in a long time,” he said. “That should have been good enough for us to leave with a road win, but our defense was just inept.”
