Arizona Wildcats don't have much to lose at Pac-12 Tournament, but still plenty to play for

Cats can improve tournament seeding

You can book it: Whether the Wildcats win one game, two games, three games or none at all in the Pac-12 Tournament, they’re almost certainly headed to San Diego for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, with a seeding somewhere between Nos. 3 and 5.

That’s because Arizona won the Pac-12 regular-season title by two games and has the best overall resume of any of the league’s teams, meaning they are assured of the league’s best placement.

A No. 4 seed or better also would guarantee geographic priority, so they won’t be matched against an early-round opponent with a better proximity.

But all that isn’t to say the Pac-12 Tournament won’t mean anything to the Wildcats. Not only can they minimally improve their seeding with a good week, making their first NCAA Tournament game potentially easier, they have always taken the Pac-12 Tournament seriously under Sean Miller.

The Wildcats are 14-6 in conference tournament games since Miller took over in 2009, and they’ve won the tournament title twice.

“I like conference tournaments,” Miller said.

“If you approach it right, it prepares you for the NCAA Tournament. If you lose, it’s a loss that feels completely different because it’s the first time that you have that feeling of ‘we don’t have a game tomorrow’ and the reason is because you lost.

“If you win, I think you build confidence, and you get tested through elimination basketball. I think you’re more ready for what’s to come.”

Here are a few other reasons why this year’s Vegas trip could be meaningful for the Wildcats:

1. Just about everyone else is desperate

Arizona is the only team in the field that is a definitive lock for the NCAA Tournament, meaning every opponent it faces won’t be leaving anything on the floor at T-Mobile Arena.

For the rest of the field, it’s double-elimination basketball in a different way: No more Pac-12 Tournament and no NCAA Tournament.

“It’s going to make a for a great tournament setting because everyone else is playing for their lives,” said Pac-12 Networks analyst Kevin O’Neill, the former UA interim head coach and USC head coach.

The Wildcats could start feeling that effect Thursday, when they face the winner of Wednesday’s 8/9 game between Colorado and Arizona State. The Buffs already beat the Wildcats in Boulder, while the Sun Devils played the UA close in both of their regular-season games.

O’Neill said the ASU-Colorado game could be the best of a competitive Wednesday slate, while also saying Stanford (which opens against California) is a team to watch, too.

“Stanford’s really intriguing,” he said. “They pass the eye test. The weekend they had at the Arizona schools (playing UA close and beating ASU) told me they look pretty good. This is the first year where a lot of people are thinking they can win it.”

Stanford is unusual in that it has 14 losses, but many of those came without starters Dorian Pickens and KZ Okpala in the non-conference season. As a result, those losses may be discounted somewhat by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

But that assumes the Cardinal can even reach the bubble. Stanford has only 17 wins now, so it probably needs to at least reach the Pac-12 Tournament finals with 20 wins to get in the conversation.

Pac-12 analyst Matt Muehlebach said USC and UCLA should be in the NCAA Tournament field — ESPN’s bracket projection had them just inside the bubble entering the week — while Washington and Utah will be among those trying to play themselves in.

“In my mind, USC and UCLA have done enough but those other teams might have to win a game or two,” Muehlebach said. “A couple really interesting teams to me are Oregon and Stanford. Both are talented enough to make a run and win it.

“For Stanford, their RPI and loss totals don’t look good at all because of the (preseason absences), but Stanford looks like an NCAA Tournament team right now.”

2. The Wildcats are (finally) whole again

Rawle Alkins missed 12 games with a broken foot and some ensuing soreness. Allonzo Trier didn’t play on the Wildcats’ trip to Oregon last weekend while he worked to appeal a suspension for a positive PED test, and reserve forward Ira Lee didn’t even make the trip because of a concussion.

Miller, meanwhile, sat out the Oregon game on Feb. 24 after ESPN reported that he discussed paying $100,000 to secure Deandre Ayton. He didn’t coach the Wildcats for three days’ worth of practice last week.

But now, they’re all scheduled to be back in action for the Pac-12 Tournament. Even Lee, giving Miller the kind of depth he might need to make a three-game run over three days in Las Vegas.

“It’s a tournament, so winning does mean a lot but … you’re also trying to get yourself to a peak performance,” Muehlebach says. “You know the NCAA Tournament is coming at you and especially for this team, because they’ve had Rawle Alkins out at times and Trier recently out and coach Miller missed a game. … For them, it’s continuing to work on their identity and hone in on things they need to work on for the NCAA tournament.”

3. And they’re galvanized (we think)

UA fans showed strong support for Miller and the Wildcats in their final two home games, but it isn’t clear yet if the Wildcats will rally around it. They struggled to beat both Stanford and last-place Cal despite all that support.

UA guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright said last week that the Wildcats have to use their circumstances as a rallying point, but it hasn’t been easy to determine how his teammates feel.

Jackson-Cartwright was the only player made available for comment after the Cal game last Saturday. Miller canceled Monday’s news conference.

O’Neill said he’s found that off-court issues really don’t affect players as much as people might think. He found that to be true while coaching the Wildcats through the tumultuous 2007-08 season, when coach Lute Olson took a leave of absence before ultimately retiring.

“They were great; they played hard all year long,” O’Neill said of the ’07-’08 Wildcats, who featured Jordan Hill, Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger. “I’ve always thought players just play, whether college or NBA. Everyone tries to make it so dramatic, but I don’t think they’re all that affected. Their main concern is always themselves.”

Whether the distractions mattered, Muehlebach said Arizona showed resiliency in being able to win the regular-season title considering everything that was going on. Assistant coach Book Richardson’s September arrest following an FBI sting was just one distraction, with Alkins’ injury, Trier’s failed drug tests, the short suspensions of forward Keanu Pinder and assistant coach Mark Phelps and ongoing federal and internal investigations being the others.

“I would imagine that just with all of the things that they’ve been through, when you add them all together that should provide a galvanizing thing for them,” Muehlebach said. “And I think they know that they’re good enough to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.”