Arizona Wildcats head into Christmas break on sour note, losing 70-67 to St. John's

SAN FRANCISCO — In 10 previous games under Sean Miller just before their annual Christmas break, the Arizona Wildcats rarely had trouble finding energy and focus.

The Wildcats won nine of those games and the lone stumble came by only four points at UNLV in 2014-15.

This one wasn’t supposed to be any different. In a 70-67 loss to St. John’s on Saturday at the Chase Center, the Wildcats were facing a team that traveled all the way across the country, was missing one of its best players (guard Mustapha Heron because of an ankle sprain) and had to deal with a UA-friendly environment at the Chase Center, where the majority of the sparse crowd was rooting for the Wildcats.

Those fans were most noticeable late in the game, when Arizona had taken a late one-point lead after trailing by up to 16 points, chanting “U of A” when the Wildcats cut it to four, after Max Hazzard hit a 3-pointer that gave UA a 67-66 lead with 1:21 left and before a final possession in which Nico Mannion missed a 3-pointer and a contested layup.

None of that was quite enough because, this time, the Wildcats did suffer from a clear lack of energy early in the game that came on top of St. John’s pressure defense.

UA had 10 turnovers that led to 14 St. John’s points and gave up seven offensive rebounds before halftime – all while shooting poorly from 3-point range (3 for 16) over the entire game.

In short, the Wildcats never really recovered after stumbling to a 14-point halftime deficit.

“We didn't come out of the gates playing hard enough,” Miller said. “We didn't match their intensity, and I give St John's a lot of credit, especially without Mustafa playing. He's one of their best players and they did a great job flying across the country and playing their style.”

UA knew about their style all week, having not played since their Dec. 14 loss to Gonzaga, and Miller found they didn’t struggle overly against backcourt pressure but against frontcourt pressure.

“It took us a while to adjust,” Miller said. “St John's has a unique style. I think you get more and more comfortable against it within the framework of the game, but we were like a deer in headlights the first 8-10 minutes. We struggled to pass and catch. We had really kind of straightforward decisions -- a three on two, dribbling in the open court and, and even some of our finishes around the basket…

“They just have quick hands, and they did a great job deflecting balls and shots, and we didn't finish.”

Miller tried to shake things up. He benched Dylan Smith and Ira Lee for the second half, the first time all season he has sat out a key rotation player for as long as a half.

Smith had four turnovers in 13 first-half minutes, while missing the only shot he took, while Lee was part of a gang that collected only one offensive rebound (by Nico Mannion, of all people) and allowed St. John’s to outrebound UA 22-15 overall in the first half. 

“We just went with the group that I thought would give us the best chance,” Miller said of his second-half lineup.

Miller cited Smith’s turnovers as a reason for the change and, when asked about Lee, said only that backup center Christian Koloko deserved more of a chance.

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Koloko blocked two shots within 10 seconds early in the second half and then wound up playing a total of 12 minutes in the second half in part because center Chase Jeter fouled out with 4:41 left.

“I’m glad we were able to get him in there in the second half,” Miller said of Koloko. “In hindsight, I wish maybe we would have got him a few extra minutes in the first half. It’s just hard right now just because with him that's four freshmen on the court at the same time, a lot of times, and that’s a lot of inexperience. But moving forward we have to do the best that we can of putting the right guys in.”

Miller also shook things up defensively by sprinkling in a 2-3 zone for a handful of possessions, though he was disappointed to find one would-be stop within that zone was torpedoed by a failure to rebound the Red Storm’s miss. St. John’s had 13 offensive rebounds for the game that led to eight second-chance points.

“It was a good change of pace but … the thing about zone is, you’ve got the same situation,” Miller said. “You have to rebound missed shots. You have to be able to guard the ball. But I do think that mixing that in when we decided to was a positive for our team.”

All that may have helped the Wildcats completely eliminate what was a 16-point St. John’s lead in the first minute of the second half.

Zeke Nnaji hit two free throws with 2:21 left to pull UA within 65-62 and then Mannion caught a St. John’s pass and turned it into an easy layup that cut St. John’s lead to just one with 1:58 left.

After Rasheem Dunn hit the first of two free throws to give St. John’s a 66-64 lead, Hazzard then hit his 3-pointer to give UA a 67-66 lead. A driving layup from Nick Rutherford gave St. John’s a 68-67 lead before UA’s final possession.

Mannion missed a 3-point try early in the possession but Green rebounded the miss and the Wildcats took a timeout with 20 seconds left to set up another play. But Mannion chose to drive inside from the right wing, missing his layup.

Asked if Mannion had other options that were cut off by St. John’s defense, Miller said no.

“They went man instead of zone,” Miller said, “and (Mannion) used a high ball screen, drove it and missed the shot.”

Arizona was then forced to foul and Julian Champagnie hit resulting free throws for the final score, setting up that Christmas break that now could be a little more sour for the Wildcats.

UA (10-3) has now lost three of its past four games heading into their Jan. 4 conference opener with ASU.

“You know, we have a lot of belief in each other so it was tough to come up short,” Hazzard said. “But we’ve gotta bounce back here, right after Christmas break.”