No. 2 Arizona suffers second consecutive loss in Bahamas
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- SMU attacked the glass and kept scoring off turnovers to offset a bad shooting performance. It was enough to hand No. 2 Arizona a second stunning loss to an unranked opponent in two nights.
Ben Emelogu scored 20 points and the Mustangs upset the Wildcats 66-60 in Thursday's consolation round at the Battle 4 Atlantis, a jarring start for an Arizona team that began the season as a Final Four favorite with a preseason Associated Press All-American in Allonzo Trier.
Arizona (3-2) lost to North Carolina State 90-84 in Wednesday's first round.
"This is a different feeling," coach Sean Miller said. "It might be healthy for our team because instead of everybody telling you how good you are and you're going to get to a Final Four and you're awesome, it's going to go opposite now.
"And I think that it could be something that drives our team to have even better practice to fix a few things and hopefully get back in the winner's circle."
The Mustangs (5-1) blew an 11-point lead in the second half but responded with a 10-2 run to go ahead for good. SMU won despite shooting 31 percent and going eight minutes without a basket in the second half.
"I always say -- and everybody thinks I'm lying but I'm not when I say this -- the best wins of the year are always when you can't get your shots to go in the basket and you find a way to win anyway," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said. "That's how great seasons are made. Everybody wins when they shoot great and feel great and all that."
The Mustangs hung on in two ways. First, they capitalized on 20 Arizona turnovers by scoring 19 points off those miscues. Then there was their effort on the boards; they were outrebounded 43-39 overall but nearly doubled up Arizona on the offensive glass (20-11) to finish with 23 more shot attempts and 14 second-chance points.
"We talk about this all the time," Jankovich said. "Really break it down: Does it take a lot of talent to go run after a ball? Does it take a lot of talent to dive on a ball? ... And the answer is no. So really what it takes is the character and it takes an unselfishness and a commitment to the things that win rather than the things that necessarily make me look good.
"And in the end, if you have a team full of those guys, then you're going to have a successful team."
Trier scored 22 points to lead the Wildcats, who shot 47 percent. Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton added 17 points and 15 rebounds, but no other Wildcats player scored in double figures. Arizona also shot just 5 of 20 on 3-pointers.
"No, our confidence isn't affected at all," freshman forward Ira Lee said. "We've just got to see these two games as a learning experience and move on."
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: Miller immediately said offense wasn't the problem after the loss to N.C. State, noting the Wildcats haven't dropped many games when scoring 84 points. Rather, he was concerned about a bad defensive effort. This time, his team had some good defensive moments, but Miller said there was something missing in glaring fashion.
"Maybe we did play some good defense," Miller said, "but defense always ends with the rebounding. And we were unable to rebound."
SMU: The Mustangs trailed much of the way against Northern Iowa in their first-round tournament game, but played from ahead in this one. They also came up with a counterpunch, regaining the lead after Arizona erased that 11-point deficit.
"The effort, gosh darn, I don't care if we were big or tiny or medium-sized out there or who was guarding who, I saw some fighting cats out there," Jankovich said. "And I loved it."
EMELOGU'S NIGHT
Emelogu went 7 of 11 from the field and 5 of 7 on 3-pointers to lead SMU's offense. The rest of SMU's starters made 12 of 53 shots (23 percent).
"A lot of times, you just play hard and play defense, you win games even though offense didn't go our way," Emelogu said.
UP NEXT
Arizona: The Wildcats will play No. 18 Purdue in Friday's seventh-place game.
