On Kerr Kriisa's 'spirit,' Benn Mathurin's turnaround, and Sean Miller's optimism despite another loss at CU

BOULDER, Colo. – The last time the Arizona Wildcats walked out of the CU Events Center with a win, they were exactly a month away from reaching their second straight Elite Eight.

That’s a lot of rough nights, four losses in a row in the building since their 82-54 cakewalk in 2014-15. And this one came with an immediate 19-2 hole that the Wildcats erased but didn’t fully shake off in their 82-79 loss.

But UA coach Sean Miller didn’t display the same sort of disappointment Saturday that he’s indicated after Arizona losses here in 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19. 

“When you’re down 19-2 – I think a lot of that had to do with Colorado came out with a lot of energy, a lot of physicality. They were ready,” Miller said. “We were coming off maybe our worst performance of the year (at Utah on Thursday). I don’t say that with any disrespect for Utah. We just went quietly away. That’s disappointing. That really hasn’t been the personality of our team this year.

“But tonight, win or lose, I couldn’t be happier, prouder of a group of guys. Down 19-2, we were right there at the end of the game. We made a couple of poor decisions at the end. But again you have to remember the inexperience, having so many younger guys out there in this actual period of time.”

Miller was disappointed with a late foul and the defense that watched Colorado’s Eli Parquet hit a 3-pointer with 1:11 left that tied the game at 76.

“But when you make those errors, Colorado still has to make the plays and they made the free throws, they made the 3s," Miller said. "They’re a good team. We lost to an excellent team on the road here in February but that’s how we play. I thought that in some segments that was maybe the best overall basketball we’ve played this year. Unfortunately, when you dig yourself a 19-2 hole you do have something to overcome. But I’m proud of our guys.”

While Miller said having to play Utah on Thursday while Colorado had the night off because of ASU’s COVID issues wasn’t to their advantage, he said the experience in Salt Lake actually may have helped light a fire of some sort.

Miller said the Wildcats had a “couple of really tough film sessions,” and a big meeting between the Utah and Colorado games, with a good practice held on Friday.

“February represents a different challenge. There’s a lot of teams playing for a lot in February -- Colorado is an example and so is Utah. I didn't think we were quite ready for that on Thursday. We are much more ready for that on Saturday.

“I thought Colorado came out of the gate really ready to play, and they're good basketball team but I liked our effort. I wish we could have left with a win, but I'd much rather get on a plane with the team that we have today than the team we were on Thursday. Thursday almost needed to happen for us to be better tonight.”

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While Miller pointed to inexperience, the Wildcats’ freshmen had their moments. Azuolas Tubelis had 18 points on 7 for 11 shooting, while Mathurin had 22 points on 7-for-9 shooting and Kerr Kriisa hit hit first 3, going 1 for 4 from the field while also jumping out in front of Colorado’s McKinley Wright on the break and drawing a key charge in the second half.

“You can see he has a spirit to him,” Miller said. “He's against the odds right now, and he's just starting his career when everybody is about 75% into the season so I thought he made a big difference.

“We were able to rest James (who played 33 minutes instead of his usual 35 or 36), we were able to rest to Terrell (Brown, who played 31). Kerr made the 3, drew the charge. He's a tough kid. He reminds me a lot of T.J. McConnell, and it's nice to have him out there, really is. I wish we would have had him all year but we're glad to have him now.”

On top of all those hard meetings and film sessions, Mathurin apparently received a little extra individual attention from Miller after the Utah game.

Miller played Mathurin only 21 minutes total against Utah and didn’t start him in the second half Thursday or either half Saturday, saying after the Utah game that “I didn't like the way he played.”

That changed Saturday. Asked if he had any particular meetings with Mathurin or saw anything suggesting Mathurin would emerge, Miller answered it this way:

“There's nobody that can play well as a college basketball player if your mind's not right, or if you're not thinking about the right things,” Miller said. “In fairness to Benn, he's 18 years old and this is a huge adjustment and challenge. He's somebody that scored 31 points in a Pac-12 game, he's starting at Arizona, and whether you're a freshman at 18 or you're a senior, there's some responsibility that goes with that.

“It's not always going to go your way; you’re not always gonna have a big night, but your team needs you to be a great teammate. You have to be a good defensive player, offensive player, and really over the last two weeks, Benn's also been simultaneously battling an ankle injury. In the (Jan. 28) Stanford game, he wasn't nearly 100%. So we've worked with him in that capacity as well.

“But he wasn't who I believe he really is against Utah and it was good for him to have those talks. Yes, he has had two or three really hard talks with me. But it's not to hurt his feelings -- it's to develop him, to teach him, to get him right, to prepare him for things to come. This road as an athlete at this level is not always going to be smooth and hopefully it's a lesson he learned on this trip. He certainly responded well tonight. I thought he played an excellent game.”

Akinjo, the player Arizona made available for comment via Zoom, said of Mathurin that "he’s tough, resilient. He's a tough, tough kid and I think he has a bright future."