For a coach who lost all five starters and still is 5-0 to start the season, Sean Miller wasn’t in the happiest of moods after Arizona’s win over UTEP on Saturday.
And it wasn’t the 0-for-9 3-point shooting, either, although Miller noted bluntly “that’s not good.”
What really bugged Miller was a lack of efficiency inside because, in a way, it made shooting 3-pointers and moving the ball outside even harder.
Arizona picked up 18 offensive rebounds but came up with 11 second-chance points, while its post players shot below 50% despite single-coverage defense, allowing UTEP to remain locked in on the Wildcats’ perimeter.
“You have to understand that UTEP really tried to stick with our perimeter players,” Miller said. “When we got the ball in and around the basket, we had no post crowd. We had no double team (to face). They just let our bigs go one-on-one with unlimited dribbles against their bigs and we didn't really exploit that defense.
“If a team does that, you've got to be able to score a little bit easier. And really, I thought the first half was more of a reflection of that than even the second half because they played more zone.
"In the first half, we had five shots, six shots -- right in and around the rim, whether it was a second shot, a jump hook, drive -- that we didn't convert. The same thing on our drives. We had some good drives but our drive to pass in some ways was taken away, because they did a good job of kind of staying at home on the perimeter.”
That ultimately helped lead to Arizona recording just eight assists to its 22 made baskets, while the Wildcats also coughed up 16 turnovers.
“So what do we get? We got fouled a lot, and to our team's credit, if you go 25 for 28 from the line, you've got to feel really good,” Miller said. “And 18 second shots is awesome. But to my point, when you get a second shot if you get 18 second shots at worst, you should have 18 points. You want a point for every second shot. …
“So when I talk about us not finishing, that's the storyline. If we finished jump hooks, finished second shots, I think what you would have found is we would have ended up shooting more 3s and making a few because they would have had to adjust. So it’s getting our big guys better, more comfortable, finishing more. That's something that I think this game taught us.
“And 16 turnovers -- that's also not good. We should've had four or five more shots. But 16 turnovers, seven of the 16 came from two freshmen, Azuolas (Tubelis) and Benn (Mathurin), who saw a different type of defense and they struggled in that area. So I think they'll improve with experience and that's why you have to play games.”
Miller expressed little concern over James Akinjo’s 2 for 11 field goal shooting, no doubt because of his 14 for 14 effort from the line but also because he said Akinjo may have been trying too hard to make it happen.
“James played a very good game,” Miller said. “Looking at the shots he made, he might have taken a couple tough ones but I think that he almost tried to score the ball for us when we were struggling at times, and he'll learn from that. But in his 36 minutes, he did a lot of good things, and his shooting numbers will come around.”
Here’s the list of the UA players who have made all free throws they have taken, with a minimum of 12:
Jerryd Bayless, vs. Stanford, 2/16/2008 (16-of-16)
James Akinjo, vs UTEP, 12/12/20 (14 for 14)
Nic Wise, vs. Washington, 1/29/2009 (14-of-14)
Allonzo Trier, vs. Bradley, 11/16/2015 (14-of-14)
Deandre Ayton, vs. Colorado, 1/25/2018 (12-of-12)
Allonzo Trier, vs. Stanford, 2/8/2017 (12-of-12)
Warren Ridge, at Utah, 2/1/1956 (12-of-12)
Dylan Rigdon, at USC, 1/22/1994 (12-of-12)
Jason Terry, vs. Washington, 1/9/1999 (12-of-12)
Jason Gardner, vs. Arizona State, 3/7/2002 (12-of-12)
Nic Wise, vs. UNLV, 12/2/2009 (12-of-12)
Nic Wise, vs. Lipscomb, 12/21/2009 (12-of-12)
Kyle Fogg, at Oregon, 1/16/2010 (12-of-12)
Derrick Williams, vs. WSU, 2/17/2011 (12-of-12)
Kaleb Tarczewski vs. California, 2/1/2014 (12-of-12)
No Miller-coached UA team had gone without a single 3-pointer before Saturday, and the Wildcats hadn’t won a game without a 3 since they beat Saint Mary’s at home, 73-61, on Dec. 10,2005 despite going 0 for 10 from 3.
The last time UA went without a three was at Stanford during the 2008-09 season, when the Wildcats were 0 for 8 from 3.
Saying he’s always comfortable and confident on the floor, Akinjo said he sensed the Wildcats needed him to be aggressive and get to the line via dribble drives.
“I feel like I was getting into the paint at will,” Akinjo said. “The shots wasn't falling and I felt like no one's was staying front of me. but my teammates give me the confidence to do whatever I see fit.”
The two players Arizona chose for postgame interviews, Akinjo and center Christian Koloko, both said they’ve been impressed with Bennedict Mathurin, who had 13 points on 5 for 7 shooting with a game-high seven rebounds.
“Bennedict is my guy,” Akinjo said. “I think his confidence is growing, and as we play every game we get more confident in him. Running the lane the way he does and him finishing the way he does really helps me, and he can step out and make 3s, so he helped me space the floor.”
Koloko appreciated Mathurin’s seven rebounds, three of which came on the offensive end.
“He’s been really good,” Koloko said. “He's still a freshman, so I think he made it he made a couple mistakes tonight. But the next few games you’ll see keep playing hard, crashing offensive boards and keep knocking 3s and drive to the basket and getting fouled.”
However, Miller took Mathurin out with 10:40 left shortly after his fourth turnover and did not return him to the game. Mathurin played only five minutes total after halftime.
“Benn is really rebounding the ball and was for 5 for 7 from the floor,” Miller said. “We didn't play him a lot the second half because his turnovers were really tough turnovers. They were passes to the team in orange, catch-it-go-the-length-of-the-floor and score, and those turnovers against zone defenses, they almost don't allow you to win.
“So one of the things he has to improve on is his dribbling, his passing, decision making, as he sees different types of defenses. He'll improve that.
"And really the same for Azuolas. He's had some early foul trouble here in his career, his young career so far, but those three turnovers. I mean, seven of 16 turnovers came from those two guys, though they'll improve. They'll get better.”
While Miller said playing four games in eight days began to wear on the Wildcats it was also a victory of sorts just that they were able to play four games in eight days, after Arizona played just one over the first 10 days of the season because of opponent COVID-19 issues.
“We're glad we've had a chance to play,” Miller said. “You’re only allowed to play seven nonconference games (because the Pac-12 is playing 20). We’ve got our fingers crossed and hopeful that we will be able to play Cal Baptist on Wednesday and Montana (on Dec. 22) and get all seven in. That would be great.
“I think every time we play, we have a chance to win and certainly improve. We're a much better team right now than we were a couple of weeks ago, and we have a group of guys that are willing to sacrifice and work at it, listen and learn.”
