More NCAA pain: Cold-shooting Wildcats exit too early

It happened. Again.

You saw it. This time it was Clemson. Freakin’ sixth-seeded Clemson. Before those Tigers, it was the Princeton Tigers. Before them, Houston. Before the Cougars, Buffalo, Xavier and Wichita State.

It happened. Again.

You saw it. Clemson beat the Wildcats 77-72 Thursday night in the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles, taking Arizona’s “rightful” place in the West regional final, an oh-so-familiar gut punch to those who bleed red and blue, flash the Wildcats hand sign and otherwise Back the A.

You saw it. The favored Wildcats with a sleepy, sloppy start. The favored Wildcats battling back from 13 down to take a brief one-point lead in the second half. The favored Wildcats unable to spit into the ocean, making only 1 of 19 shots during one particularly excruciating stretch. The favored Wildcats giving up way-too-easy baskets as the final seconds ticked toward a what-if offseason.

The Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times since Wisconsin kneecapped Sean Miller’s teams in regional finals in 2014 and 2015 … and Arizona has exited to a team seeded at least four spots lower in each of those six times.

So, yes.

It happened. Again.

You’re probably weary of “wait ‘til next year” sentiments, but for the record, here is your obligatory big-picture reflection from Tommy Lloyd:

“I love these guys. I love the culture we’re starting to really build upon,” he said in the postgame press conference. “I’m real big on eventually getting some compound return on our investment and I think we’re going to get that. I think we’re doing all the right things.

“Obviously we’re not perfect and no one is and we don’t ever want to be perfect. We just want to be making progress. So I love where we’re at. I wasn’t ready to take a breath, but I’m going to take a breath.”

But for those who would prefer to NOT take a breath, this is for you: Fire Tommy Lloyd!

Wait. Well, no. Are you insane?

Clearly, though, Lloyd is going to be going through some things.

Which is fine. Can’t argue with that. I mean, he’s been a No. 2, a No. 1 seed and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tourney and hasn’t navigated past the Sweet 16. Dems the facts.

Now, I’ll leave it to y’all amateur coaches to debate strategy and motivation and in-game adjustments and roster construction and playing time and all that stuff. I don’t have the answers. But there is quite a bit of discussion about all that on Thursday night’s high-energy PHNX Wildcats postgame show.

But it just might be this simple: Arizona missed shots.

Starting guards Kylan Boswell, Caleb Love and Pelle Larsson combined to shoot 2 of 20 from 3-point range. Forward Keshad Johnson, an important sniper this season, missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

It was all especially annoying because Arizona had drawn seven fouls and was in the bonus after only seven minutes of the second half, and the Cats were in the double bonus after 10. But then the Tigers went into a zone, packed it in and picked their poison.

If the Wildcats made open outside shots, bless them. But, once again, a zone defense was Arizona’s curse.

The Wildcats obliged by chucking bricks, either unwilling or unable to drive against a lengthy Clemson defense. Clang, clang, clang went their folly.

In a guard-play-is-everything tournament, Arizona's guard play was awful (Jaden Bradley excepted) in losing in the Sweet 16 to Clemson.

— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) March 29, 2024

Lloyd said the missed 3-pointers – 5 of 28 for the game – were “a lot to overcome.”

“I feel like some of them were good looks and shots we’ve made all season, and today they just didn’t go in,” he said. “So I think our guys deserve a ton of credit to have that sort of shooting night and to get yourself in the game or have a position to win it.”

The bar of expectations for these Pac-12 regular-season champ Wildcats was set at the Elite Eight. Get there and lose? Fine. Understandable. It’s a toss-up game. Arizona wouldn’t have to apologize. Lloyd wouldn’t have to fend off barbs for another calendar year.

But the Wildcats didn’t get there and here we are.

It all hurts for now, but I believe Lloyd is going continue to accumulate many more NCAA Tournament at-bats as a high seed. Faith in Lloyd will eventually be rewarded.

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

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Top photo: Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley reacts after a foul in the second half against the Clemson Tigers. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)