After winning the previous 20 games against the Stanford Cardinal, Arizona Basketball was swept by Stanford at home last night.
In what seemed to be a defensive struggle on Thursday evening, particularly in the first half, the Arizona Basketball team looked a bit sloppy, perhaps suffering a winning hangover from a few nights before.
Whether it was turnovers or poor shooting, the Men’s team did not look very good. Everyone from the bench to stars like James Akinjo were mostly pedestrian against the Cardinal.
Arizona Wildcats
As a fan, you may think it does not matter, since the U of A self-imposed a postseason ban, but winning is still important and I’ll get back to that. But let’s talk about what happened with our beloved Wildcats last night.
As mentioned, Arizona Men’s Basketball turned the ball over a lot.
In the second half of their home game vs Stanford, the Wildcats seemed to get things going. They were running in transition, moving the ball, and knocking down threes. But as they did all game, their abundance of turnovers caught up with them.
As a team, the Wildcats turned the ball over 18 times, which is not going to win you very many ball games. Akinjo, who is typically an efficient offensive player, led the team with six turnovers, while four out of five starters had at least one turnover, the one exception being center Christian Koloko, who had his own problems, foul trouble.
It is still important that Arizona Basketball wins as much as possible.
As a fan of the Men’s Basketball team, you may be thinking why does it matter whether we win this season? And you would have a valid argument for that.
After all, when the regular season comes to a close, that will be it this season for the Wildcats. As you should be aware by now, it is that Arizona has self-imposed a postseason ban, preventing them from playing in the Pac-12 tournament, as well as the NCAA Tournament.
However, to me, it is still important that the guys maintain a competitive spirit and build towards next year. This team can build a lot of momentum for next season when they will be assumedly eligible again for the postseason. Also if you’re going to play for Sean Miller and for the best college basketball fans, you better go into a game with the idea that you’re going to win.
Anyways, at Zona Zealots, we’re certainly disappointed in the teams’ loss and hope they can bounce back. As always, Bear Down Arizona! Keep fighting!