Fifteen AP Top 25 teams lost last week and, after just two weeks of Pac-12 play, everybody in the conference has been beaten at least once.
So does that, at least, make Sean Miller feel a little better? The coach who complained repeatedly after UA lost 80-77 at Colorado on Saturday that he “can’t reach” them and get them to play harder?
Miller considered that question for a moment during his news conference Monday.
Then he lightened up, just a bit.
“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t think we would go 18-0 in the Pac-12. We lost to Colorado. That’s over with. We split the road trip (by winning at Utah).
“When I first came to Arizona it was you split your road trips and try to win every game at home and you’ll be right there as a contender for the conference championship. So far that’s the path that we’ve gone down.
“But I’m not really judging our team on the result as much as how we did. If we would have played lights out, played with tremendous effort, made a lot of plays, dove on the floor, were ready — and we lost — I think that’s a whole different feeling than ... (at Colorado, in) the first half, I think anybody who watches the game would say ‘They’re better than that.’”
So it was a qualified sense of consolation from Miller.
His point guard had no sense of consolation at all.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright indicated he’s fully aware of what Miller said after the Colorado game and what others have said and he’s fine with it.
“I don’t think it’s an overreaction at all,” PJC said. “Especially the way we played, there should be some concern because we’re judged on a higher standard and we have higher expectations for ourselves (as do the) coaches. From that standpoint, there’s a concern because we didn’t play hard and we should always have that in place, playing hard and playing for each other.”
As it turned out, the Wildcats’ loss didn’t really hurt them much in the rankings and power metrics because of all the losing around them.
Arizona dropped from No. 14 to No. 17 in the AP Poll after a week when fourth-ranked ASU also lost at Colorado and other losers included No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Duke and No. 5 Xavier.
Meanwhile, both No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 12 North Carolina both lost twice and fell below the Wildcats — the Aggies dropped all the way out of the poll — keeping Arizona from falling more.
In the RPI, Arizona dropped from No. 23 to No. 24 and the Wildcats are now No. 14 in Sagarin ratings and No. 17 in kenpom.com ratings.
Shallow bench
Arizona scored 14 fewer points from its bench than Colorado did on Saturday, 12 to 26, and the Wildcats had only 11 from their bench at Utah.
Miller played only two reserves for double-figure minutes at Utah — guards Brandon Randolph and Dylan Smith – while only Randolph played that much (11 minutes) at Colorado.
“We need our depth to continue to develop,” Miller said. “There’s no magic wand, as much as we’re trying to solidify those guys and what we’re looking for.
“Part of a hard-playing team is (having) players who don’t start to come in the game and energize the group. We’ve had guys like that in the past. But when you have such a young group that’s coming off the bench, it does take some time. I think they’re on the right track, though.”
Miller played freshman forward Emmanuel Akot at Colorado for the first time in three games, and said Akot needs to keep working hard.
“We love him and his future’s really bright,” Miller said of Akot. “We’re just trying to figure out what’s best for our team now.
Beavers on a roll
Oregon State lost its only true away game of the season, 79-78 at Kent State on Dec. 21, but the Beavers took advantage of three home games to start Pac-12 play before having to play Arizona at McKale Center on Thursday.
The Beavers beat Colorado 76-57 on Dec. 29, then lost 66-64 to Utah two days later before beating Oregon 76-64 last Friday at Gill Coliseum.
“They’re a much-improved team not only last year to this year, but they’re much improved from the beginning of year to now,” Miller said.
“They seem to be hitting their stride.”
Out of the gate
The close losses by Arizona and Utah are typical of how competitive Pac-12 play has been so far.
League publicist Jesse Hooker tweeted Monday that through 20 games, the home team has only won 11 times, and a quarter of the games have been decided by one possession. The Pac-12 has also had two overtime games (Colorado over ASU and Stanford over UCLA in double OT).
And, on Sunday, the league had one game memorably decided on the final play when Stanford’s Deajon Davis hit a half-court buzzer bomb to beat USC.
“I would say this isn’t probably the strongest the conference has been. I just think it’s the most balanced, top to bottom,” Jackson-Cartwright said.
“You think of Washington State, Oregon State — those teams are playing tremendously. It’s just balanced.”
Wright honored
Colorado freshman guard McKinley Wright was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Buffaloes to upset wins over ASU and UA.
Against the Wildcats on Saturday, Wright had 16 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and seven turnovers while shooting 5-for-11 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Wright averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 assists over the two games.
