Arizona Basketball: Wildcats Look to Counter First Loss of the Season

Sean Miller and his Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season last weekend in Las Vegas. They’ll be back in McKale Wednesday to face Texas Southern, hoping to get back on the winning track.

After a much-needed five-day break, Arizona Basketball is back in action Wednesday evening. Coming off of their first loss of the season, Sean Miller’s team will look to use what they learned from the loss to Butler, and take care of Texas Southern.

Arizona walked out of Las Vegas without a championship, exhausted and perhaps shocked. Butler, who is a really good and experienced team, used their experience to come from behind and beat the Wildcats. But with a team still looking for flow and consistency, these early losses become great learning experiences.

More from Zona Zealots

• Arizona Football begins Conference play against Stanford
• Arizona Football starts slow but runs away from UTEP
• How Wildcats Fans Can Claim $200 INSTANT Bonus at BetMGM Betting $10 Right Now
• Costly Mistakes doom Arizona Football in loss to Mississippi State
• Arizona Basketball likely to schedule Florida Atlantic for 2023

Texas Southern (4-2) comes to Tucson from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Arizona and Texas Southern last met in 2015 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Arizona coming out with a 93-72 win.

With a team filled with Juco and four-year grad transfers, the Tigers will not be intimidated by Arizona. Just like Butler, this team is experienced and will look to make the young Wildcats uncomfortable in their own house.

For Arizona to avoid two losses in a row, there are a few key factors to securing the win: staying out of foul trouble, perimeter shooting, dribble penetration, focus.

Staying out of foul trouble is a standard ‘key to win’ approach. But with an eight-man rotation, staying out of foul trouble becomes an even greater concern. The NCAA has put more pressure on refs to call games fouls more closely. As excruciating as it has been, players and coaches have to adapt to how the refs are calling the game.

The Butler game changed once Lauri Markannen fouled out of the game. Even though Kobi Simmons was a huge part in Arizona going on a run to reclaim the lead, not having Lauri on the court helped change the outcome of the game.

When he is on the court, you have to account for his three-point shooting (2-4 on the night, the team went 3-11), pick-and-pop and him being 7 feet tall. As one of the top freshmen in the country, you must have him available down the stretch. Smarter defensive play and positioning will help Lauri stay away from the bench.

In the chance Texas Southern goes with a zone defense (I’d be surprised if they don’t at least attempt to), Arizona must be more efficient from outside the paint. As mentioned above, Arizona shot 3-11 from three with Lauri claiming two of the three makes. Until Arizona finds a way to better attack zone, you can expect opposing teams to continue to throw zone their way.

The best way to attack a zone is perimeter shooting and dribble penetration. Once you start hitting outside shots, a team is forced to guard tightly, moving them out of the packed zone. When guards can attack the center of a zone defense, it draws in the defense to tighten the zone which in turn allows offensive players to cut more freely. Attacking a zone this way does increase the chance for turnovers, but when you can’t 100% rely on outside shooting, there is no other choice.

Focus is the last remaining key to a Wildcat win. And as Miller pointed out in today’s presser, the Arizona players have a lot on their mind.

“They have a lot going on. They have final papers, preparation for final exams, and in some cases, there’s always those classes that finish earlier than others and there’s a number of our players that will finish maybe one class as the weekend approaches.”

“I think the pressure point of eligibility, graduation, finishing this semester in a responsible way, coupled with these two games and the aftermath of learning from our experience last week in Las Vegas, no question that these two weeks here are sometimes the most stressful two weeks of a school year for our players.”

Three true freshmen and a JUCO transfer play significant time in each game. Aside from Keanu Pinder, the other brand new players are in their first year of college academics.

We already saw Chance Comanche, unfortunately, have academic issues, but he thankfully cleared those up quickly. Classes come first, and that is hammered home to the players by Miller. The last thing he wants is to see a situation like North Carolina or LSU (with Ben Simmons).

The next game is a big one in Los Angeles against Gonzaga. Texas Southern’s game is the definition of a classic ‘trap game.’ The team must focus on controlling what is directly in front of them. They can’t dwell on the loss too long. In fact, by Friday the Butler game should have been out of their minds. They also can’t look ahead to the next game. If Arizona can’t focus on Texas Southern, playing under control and playing together, Wednesday night could be a disaster.

Next: Miller was Right; Every Arizona Basketball Game Will be Tough

If the Wildcats can control the tempo, play together and play smart, Wednesday should be no problem. Arizona is the clear favorite, has more athleticism and talent advantage. That doesn’t always mean a blowout win. The Wildcats must stay in the moment and treat Texas Southern as a threat. I for one am expecting the best all-around attack from the Wildcats so far this season. BEAR DOWN!