Arizona Basketball: 3 flaws that will inevitably take down the Wildcats

2. There is a lack of 3-point shooting

For the better part of a decade, Arizona has consistently deployed NBA-level athletes on the wing and under the basket. Derrick Williams, Solomon Hill, Aaron Gordon, Stanley Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Lauri Markkanen — just to name a few.

However, of these players, the only ones that were ever major threats to hit from deep were Hill and Markannen. While some of the others were serviceable shooters from beyond the arc, none of them attempted or made 3-pointers with regularity. In the past, we have seen Arizona teams flounder in the Big Dance due to their inability to consistently shoot from deep.

Xavier outshot Arizona by 12% from three last year. Wisconsin outscored Arizona by 30 behind the arc in 2015. Plus, who could forget when the Wildcats went 4 for 21 against Kemba Walker and UConn in 2011. Derrick Williams and Jamelle Horne both missed threes in the final seconds that would have sent Arizona to the Final Four. Yuck.

Come March, Arizona will always run the risk of going ice-cold from three and losing to an inferior team. We’ve seen it too many times before. We will see it again.