About the only mistake high-strung UCLA coach Mick Cronin made Tuesday came 20 minutes after the Bruinsβ forceful victory over Arizona. βThey got (a lot of) rebounds but they missed 49 shots,β said Cronin.
Forgive Cronin his math skills. Arizona missed 52 shots. Thatβs not only unthinkable, itβs historic. Arizona had not missed 52 shots in a game since 1976 against Adams State, and that didnβt matter because Fred Snowdenβs Wildcats scored 102 points that night.
Nobody in college basketball misses 52 shots in a game any more. A lot of teams donβt even attempt 52 shots in a game. Shoot (or not), when Sean Millerβs UA team lost identical 67-60 games to Colorado and Pac-12 champ Washington in February 2019, neither the Buffaloes (43) nor Huskies (49) attempted 50.
Itβs not about shooting, itβs about making shots.
Cronin cleverly referred to Arizonaβs shot-selection as βshooting turnovers.β And thatβs because UCLAβs defense was so resolute and dogged that whenever Bennedict Mathurin took a shot, it was willfully resisted. Mathurin missed 14 of 16 shots from close-in, 2-pointers.
That probably wonβt happen again. Mathurin is too good not to return with a vengeance when Arizona plays the Bruins next week at McKale Center. He doesnβt need to go far to seek advice; sitting close to Mathurin on the UA bench Tuesday was player personnel director Jason Gardner, one of the pillars of Arizonaβs old βPoint Guard Uβ identity.
Gardner suffered through the worst shooting game of his career in Los Angeles against UCLA in March 2003, going 0 for 12 from 3-point range and 2 for 20 overall. The No. 1 Wildcats lost 96-89 in overtime.
But a week later, in an epic double-overtime NCAA Tournament victory over Gonzaga (yes, Tommy Lloyd was sitting on the Zagsβ bench), Gardner scored 22 points.
The perspective is this: Donβt make too much of Tuesdayβs 75-59 nose-dive at Pauley Pavilion. Itβs not even February yet. The loss should be as much a learning tool as anything else, especially for a first-year head coach like Lloyd.
There is almost no way coaches can create the kind of full-speed offense Lloyd deploys without ultimately discovering there is a limit, a point to step off the brakes. Itβs much harder to create a high-tempo and aggressive offense than to play slow, to milk-the-shot-clock and eliminate risks.
It was inevitable that Lloyd would have to back the Wildcats off a bit against premier coaches and adjust. Unlike the coaches at Illinois, Michigan and Colorado, Cronin and his staff had plenty of time to create a more viable game plan to beat Arizona.
Now itβs a chess match. Letβs see what happens in the rematch at McKale next week.
UCLA has six significant players back from its 2021 Final Four team. Man for man, the Bruins are more experienced and as every bit as skilled as Arizonaβs rotation, maybe more. They won Tuesday without injured Jaylen Clark, a key part of Croninβs rotation for two years.
The Bruins didnβt miss Clark as much as Arizona missed a full speed Azoulas Tubelis. It was clear Tubelis had no push, no first step. He couldnβt react properly on defense. Tubelis is probably one of the 10 best offensive players in the Pac-12. Without his effectiveness and physicality, UCLA was able to put more manpower into stopping Mathurin.
In retrospect, itβs amazing Arizona only lost by 16.
UCLA guard Johnny Juzang holds the pose as he shoots a 3-pointer while Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa watches during the second half of Tuesdayβs game at Pauley Pavilion. While the Bruins shot well from the field, the Wildcats struggled mightily.
There is a recent precedent that suggests Arizona wonβt be similarly overmatched in next weekβs game at McKale: In February 2017, No. 5 Arizona took a 21-2 record into a showdown with No. 13 Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena. That arena rocked like the old days at Mac Court; the Ducks burst to a 69-32 lead, won with ridiculous ease, 85-58, by shooting a near-record 65% afield.
Wrong place, wrong time, as it was for Arizona at Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday.
A month later in the Pac-12 championship game, the β17 Wildcats won 83-80, shooting 58% as the Ducks missed 16 of 22 3-pointers.
Maybe history wonβt repeat next week at McKale; maybe the Bruins are that good and the code to stopping Lloydβs βAir Raidβ offense has been discovered. Perhaps an even bigger challenge for Lloyd will go beyond finding a way for his team to get more open shots, but to be more effective in guarding the Bruins.
UCLA attempted 64 shots Tuesday; about 40 of them were open looks. As much as Croninβs defense found a way to stop Arizonaβs offense, Lloyd is now challenged to find a way to stop Croninβs offense.
It should be fun, donβt you think? The Pac-12 has been lacking elite teams for so long, clearly missing the irresistible UCLA-Arizona rivalry that almost never disappointed from 1986-2005. A restoration of the long-anticipated Pauley vs. McKale series appears to be back to good health.
For that, thank you Mick Cronin, you cranky, foot-stomping, sideline orator. You may wish to wear earplugs next Thursday.
