WIldcats leave Las Vegas as no sure bet

LAS VEGAS – Be disappointed. Be mad. Take your best shots on social media. Worry away. Pray to your higher power.

The Arizona Wildcats have lost.

It is almost always a sky-is-falling moment when the Wildcats lose a men’s basketball game, so take cover. There will be plenty of fallout from Friday night’s 67-59 loss to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.

At least until the NCAA Tournament begins next week.

“It’s basketball, it’s March, anything happens,” said senior Keshad Johnson.

Maybe this loss will linger emotionally. Maybe it exposed a team that can’t seem to maintain energy and effort. On the other hand, maybe it will actually inspire the Wildcats. Maybe it just doesn’t matter.

In the NCAAs, all that matters is how you play that day … and good luck predicting that with these wild Wildcats.

In the meantime, feel free to rant and vent. I’m not here to dismiss your concerns and criticisms. The Wildcats face-planted after a brilliant display against USC on Thursday night and after being up 14 points in the first half against Oregon.

Arizona was still up by 10 at halftime but had committed the ultimate sin against an underdog; the Wildcats let the Ducks hang around long enough to believe.

“Their energy drained a little bit when they didn’t hit some shots,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said of the Wildcats.

Arizona fell behind by 13 points with about five minutes to go, rallied back within four, and then exited the final Pac-12 tourney short of its goal of winning the event for the third consecutive time.

“We’re a program that competes for championships. We’ve got a great fan base. We wanted to perform for them. And we weren’t able to,” coach Tommy Lloyd said.

“But as true competitors, we’ve got to keep our head high and go back and understand that the greatest challenges lie ahead. And there’s going to be an amazing opportunity. The one thing I know about the character of our program is the guys respond. I’m looking forward to seeing their response.”

Which is exactly what you would have thought Lloyd would say.

But the Wildcats’ leading scorer, Caleb Love, is in a slump. Kylan Boswell isn’t providing the kind of point guard play associated with a deep NCAA run. Arizona’s shaky ability to guard the 3-point line showed up again in the second half against Oregon. And all the sloppy turnovers.

Um … and Oumar Ballo did not attempt a shot in the second half against the Ducks.

Let’s repeat that: Ballo did not attempt a shot.

“Getting him the ball more in better position is something that we can definitely take a look at,” Lloyd said.

That should be the easy part, right?

As for Love? The Pac-12 Player of the Year has scored a total of 19 points in his past three games, which was his per-game scoring average before hitting this skid. He has shot 7 of 34 from the field in those three games.

“Teams are kind of just making me uncomfortable,” he said. “They’re going to try to take me out of rhythm and it’s tough to get going, but I’m well-seasoned enough to get it going. I’ve just got to find a way.”

Likewise, Boswell is 4 of 23 in the past three games, and his overall floor leadership and game management skills have been uninspiring.

The Wildcats turned the ball over 14 times in each of its two tournament games and has 46 in the past three outings.

“Coach gives us a lot of freedom, and we’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” guard Jaden Bradley said.

So, the Wildcats’ history in the Pac-12 basketball tournament had ended. The Wildcats’ season has not.

Perhaps the sky really is falling. Or perhaps it’s just a few wildly inconsistent games.

“We know what we’ve got inside our team,” Johnson said.

“We know the love we play with each other. “Everybody is going to have their say on social media, and there are critics, but we can’t focus on that. Everyone is going to say what they want to say. We just got to prove everybody wrong if they’ve got something negative to say.”

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Top photo: Arizona Wildcats guard Pelle Larsson looks for a call against the Oregon Ducks (Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)