After big afternoon at McKale, Arizona Wildcats still have plenty of work to do

After his five seniors finished their farewell speeches, with fans soaking in the last moments of a final Pac-12 Saturday afternoon at McKale Center, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd grabbed the microphone for a parting message.

“We got work to do in L.A.,” Lloyd said to cheers, “and we’ll see you in Vegas.”

About five hours later, news flowed in from Pullman, Washington, telling Lloyd and the Wildcats exactly how much work they had to do.

Washington State (23-7, 14-5) erased a double-digit deficit to beat UCLA 77-65 and stay a half-game behind the first-place Wildcats in the Pac-12 race, meaning No. 6-ranked Arizona (23-6, 14-4) will need to sweep UCLA and USC in Los Angeles this week to capture the league title outright unless WSU drops its final game, a home contest against ninth-place Washington on Thursday.

The Cougars already beat the Huskies in overtime in Seattle on Feb. 3 during an eight-game winning streak that concluded with a 77-74 win over Arizona at McKale on Feb. 22. That game gave WSU possession of a potential tiebreaker with Arizona, since the Cougars also beat the Wildcats 73-70 on Jan. 13 in Pullman.

So, in order for the Wildcats and their fans to enjoy the earlier starting times and potentially more favorable matchups given in Las Vegas to the Pac-12 Tournament’s No. 1 seed, Arizona must win the regular-season title outright and avoid the tiebreaker. The No. 1 seed faces either No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the quarterfinals at noon on March 14, and nobody higher than No. 4 at 5 p.m. on March 15 in the semifinals.

The No. 2 seed, meanwhile, opens against No. 7 or 10 at 6 p.m. on March 14 and could face No. 3 (likely Oregon or Colorado) in the semis at 7:30 p.m. on March 15.

Small differences, maybe, but the Wildcats might need every advantage they can get in Las Vegas. Because in order to pull down a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed and pave the best possible path to the Glendale Final Four, the Wildcats might need to win both games in Los Angeles this week — and the entire Pac-12 Tournament.

Houston, UConn and Purdue appear to have all but locked up three of the four No. 1 seeds — as they were given during the NCAA’s early top 16 reveal on Feb. 17 — and the Wildcats could be in a lump of teams fighting for the last spot.

Arizona was assigned the No. 1 seed in the West during the early reveal show but lost at home to WSU five days later. That loss pushed them below the No. 1 seed line on CBS’ bracket projection, which had Tennessee as the No. 1 in the West as of Sunday, though ESPN still has UA as the West’s No. 1 seed.

ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi said on ESPN that he expected the Wildcats would hang on to the final No. 1 seed if they don’t lose before Selection Sunday.

“Arizona and Tennessee and, to a lesser extent, North Carolina and Marquette, are all in contention for the last No. 1 seed position,” Lunardi said. “But Arizona is going to have to lose (to not get it) in part because they’re the incumbent on that line (from the early reveal) and also because I think the committee over the years has shown that — all things being equal — it likes a team from out West to lead the West Region bracket.”

Of course, all that speculation is getting way further up the road than Lloyd normally prefers to go.

Especially because, by gently pushing aside all the good vibes from the Wildcats’ home regular-season finale, Lloyd can see there is some pretty urgent work to be done before they can even think about winning Thursday at UCLA, much less in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game.

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Namely, on defense.

While Arizona shot 60.9% and hit 14 of 25 3-pointers Saturday to keep things comfortable, the Wildcats also gave up 52.2% shooting to Oregon on the other end. That included Oregon’s 67% shooting in the second half, when the Ducks outscored the Wildcats 53-52.

As a result, while UA went on a 12-0 run in the first half, it had none bigger than a 7-0 run after halftime.

“Something that we take pride in is being able to go on runs but you have to get stops,” Lloyd said. “Our second-half defense left something to be desired, and that’ll give us something to focus on Monday.”

They could start, maybe, by watching video of Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard, who put on an all-American type of show against the Wildcats for the second time in two seasons.

The South Carolina transfer had 27 points in a breakout game of sorts against the Wildcats last season at Eugene, and on Saturday poured in 39 on 14-for-24 shooting, getting to the rim with relative ease much of the time for layups or drawing fouls that allowed him to go 7 for 7 from the line.

After the game, when Lloyd was asked if he liked the way the Wildcats were trending as they head near the postseason, he said he did — and then quickly pivoted to note what happened in the recent WSU and Oregon games.

“Couisnard, man,” Lloyd said. “Just a strong guard who was having his way with us.”

But the Wildcats have plenty of motivation to help get them through all the work ahead. They won’t be back at McKale but — whether as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournaments ahead — they’ll have an opportunity to return to their home state for the Final Four.

Several of the Wildcats’ seniors, whether in postgame speeches or interviews over the last week, alluded to that possibility. Wing Pelle Larsson even threw out an expletive when he told fans they would give everything they had.

“I’ve had the time of my life here at the University of Arizona with these people,” he said, nodding toward teammates next to him on the interview podium. “I just want to do something special for them and the people who support us.”

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Photos: No. 6 Arizona wins 103-83 over Oregon, Pac-12 men's basketball