Poor-shooting Arizona Wildcats end season in 77-72 loss to Clemson Tigers in Sweet 16

LOS ANGELES — Caleb Love changed his shoes at halftime, and that didn’t work. Oumar Ballo kept hoping the odds would even out, and that didn’t happen, either.

“I’ve been playing basketball a long time,” Ballo said, “and I’ve never missed six free throws in a row.”

But he did, just as Love, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, missed all nine 3-pointers he tried in Arizona's 77-72 Elite Eight loss to Clemson on Thursday. Just as these other 3-point shooting lines appeared: Point guard Kylan Boswell 1 for 5, Pelle Larsson 1 for 6 from 3, and Keshad Johnson 0 for 3.

Together, the Wildcats put up their second-worst field goal percentage of the season (37.3) and their worst 3-point percentage (17.9) of the season.

“Just didn’t fall today,” Boswell said. “That’s about it.”

That was the most common explanation throughout the Wildcats' quiet locker room Thursday.

There were other contributing reasons, of course. The Tigers did switch from man-to-man into a zone defense, which has caused the Wildcats problems this season but not in the way that, say, Washington State did when the Cougars held the Wildcats to a season-low 34.7% effort in UA’s Jan. 13 loss at Pullman?

“Nothing like that,” Ballo said.

Ballo said the Wildcats settled too often for shots that weren’t optimal. Love said he should have spent more time driving downhill, because that was one area he had success, even hitting a floater in the lane that cut Clemson’s lead to just 75-72 with 15 seconds left.

Love said it wasn’t anything the Tigers were throwing at him defensively, just simply what was happening when the ball came out of his hands beyond the 3-point arc.

“It just didn't fall for me tonight,” Love said. “It was obviously the worst time that it couldn't fall. My teammates and my coach still trusted me to keep me out there. And I was just praying and hoping that I was going to make one for us to go up or get a stride but it's just tough.”

By the time Love drove inside for his floater, the Wildcats were already in desperation mode. They trailed by up to 13 points in the first half and were only able to take one brief lead in the second half, while Clemson’s Dillon Hunter made a breakaway layup with nine seconds left that put a dagger in the Wildcats with nine seconds left.

Love had fed Ballo for a layup with 1:29 left to cut Clemson’s lead to 70-67, but Clemson center PJ Hall dunked inside to give the Tigers a 72-67 lead with 1:05 left. Bradley then hit a 3-pointer to pull UA back within two points, 72-70, with 49 seconds left.

But Hunter drove inside for a layup and drew a foul from Bradley with 25 seconds left, hitting the ensuing free throw to give Clemson a 75-70 lead before Love raced down for his floater that wasn’t enough.

The loss ended Arizona’s season at 27-9 while Clemson (24-11) moved into an Elite Eight game on Saturday against Alabama, a winner over North Carolina in Thursday's other West Region semifinal game.

Bradley wound up saving the Wildcats from a much more embarrassing fate, collecting 18 points while shooting 4 of 9 from the field and hitting 8 of 9 free throws in a 25-minute appearance, having finished the season particularly strong off the bench.

Love credited Bradley for “coming out and hooping” when everyone else pretty much struggled. Ballo led the Wildcats with 15 points and 15 rebounds but missed those six free throws; Johnson had six points and 11 rebounds; Bradley finished with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Wildcats’ five starters collectively hit just 2 of 23 3-pointers.

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That’s “a lot to overcome,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I feel like some of them were good looks and shots we've made all season, and today they just didn't go in.”

Lloyd then tried to look at it the other way, crediting Bradley for helping the Wildcats nearly make it back. They actually tied the game three times in the second half and led once, 46-45 with 14:40 left, but only actually led for 20 seconds of the 40-minute game.

“I think our guys deserve a ton of credit,” Lloyd said. “To have that sort of shooting night and get yourself in the game where you have a position to win, I think is incredible. It just shows the resiliency and toughness of these guys.

“Especially without J.B. playing the way he did, maybe we lose by 14, 16 points. But J.B. got in there and we were down to the last minute and gave ourselves a chance. On a night where we didn't shoot the ball well."

The Wildcats began the game shaky from the start, failing to score for nearly the first four minutes of the game. Arizona missed its first six shots while committing three turnovers before Boswell put them on the board with a 3-pointer with 16:14 left in the first half.

By then, Clemson had only a 4-3 lead but the Wildcats’ slide continued. The Tigers were up to 16-6 five minutes later and 27-14 after a 3-pointer by Chauncey Wiggins with 7:19 left.

Lloyd said Clemson’s defense prompted the Wildcats to settle for a “lot of tough shots” early in the game, but Larsson said they also received shots they wanted, only to miss when the opportunity arose.

Defense didn’t help enough.

“I don't think we dug a hole ourselves,” Larsson said. “I think we got looks that we wanted and didn't make them. At the same time, they were making a lot of shots that we wanted them to take. They did a great job.”

Arizona started to show some life late in the first half when a block from Motiejus Krivas led to a fast-break dunk from Johnson and, after Clemson missed a shot, Bradley came down for a layup with 5:10 left to cut the Tigers’ lead to 29-22.

The Wildcats carried that momentum into the second half. They trailed 39-31 at halftime, but went on an 8-0 run a minute after halftime to tie the game at 43 when Love made a three-point play with 16:33 left. UA’s defense helped fuel the run, with Larsson hitting a 3-pointer in transition after Hall turned the ball over.

“The second half we made a more concerted effort,” Lloyd said. “We wanted to attack the guys, move the ball, attack, drive closeouts, play with our feet on the ground in the paint. Our guys did a much better job of that in the second half.”

The Wildcats later took a 46-45 lead with 14:32 left when Boswell stole the ball from Clemson’s Chase Hunter, leading to a layup from Love, though they never led again. UA tied the game again with 9:55 left when Bradley hit two free throws but Clemson led by two possessions most of the rest of the way.

That left Love with not enough after he drove in the lane for his floater with 15 seconds left, and Bradley with not enough despite his 18 points and Ballo with not enough despite his 7-for-10 field-goal shooting when he did get the ball inside.

The Wildcats' run was over, two wins short of the Glendale Final Four, while Clemson reached its first Elite Eight since 1980.

“We had the ability to get to the Final Four and we didn't,” Lloyd said. “And that happens. It's nothing to look down upon.”

Photos: Arizona goes down 77-72 to Clemson, NCAA Tournament West Region Sweet 16