Pac-12 Basketball: Each team’s worst performance of the last decade

By Joey Loose | Oct 20, 2018

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins yells to his players during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Montell McRae #1 of the Buffalo Bulls reacts in the second half against the Arizona Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Arizona

March 15, 2018 (Buffalo 89, Arizona 68) (GS: 30)

There was a point last season where we all thought the coaching career of Sean Miller had ended as the FBI investigation into college basketball nearly swallowed him whole. Though he did step aside for one game (an overtime loss at Oregon while they were coached by the great Lorenzo Romar), he’s still the head coach down at Arizona. Apart from that unappealing loss at Oregon, it was a pretty successful month for the Wildcats, winning the Pac-12 Tournament and many of their games down the stretch.

By the time they reached the NCAA Tournament they had received a 4-seed and were the only Pac-12 program in the round of 64. 13-seed Buffalo awaited the Wildcats in their first round match-up in Boise. Arizona was expected to win, Arizona should’ve won, but Arizona did not play like a 4-seed or a power conference champion.

This was a competitive game in the first half, with the largest lead just 7 for Buffalo and Arizona was still within eight with just over 10 minutes left in the game. The Bulls would pull away and turn this upset into a laugher late, anchored by a 50% performance from the 3-point line, compared to just 11% for Arizona. DeAndre Ayton put up 14 points and 13 rebounds but the Wildcats couldn’t keep up with Buffalo’s hot shooting. Wes Clark put up 25 points and 7 assists (10-14 shooting) and Jeremy Harris added 23 points.

Arizona is one of those high-profile programs that doesn’t suffer a lot of unexpected losses but this was quite the upset, at least until hours later when UMBC caused havoc to the same region’s 1 seed. Had Arizona not fallen apart, their path to the Final Four would have been dealing with Kentucky, Kansas State and Loyola, which would’ve been Sean Miller’s easiest path to his first Final Four. But it didn’t happen and the Wildcats will have to try again, and they’ll definitely be fit to do so in this weak conference.

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