LOS ANGELES — Arizona spent the last year waiting for this moment, preparing for this moment, making sure another Elite Eight trip wouldn’t end in misery.
It got Wisconsin again, the team that ended its season last year. But when the moment came, the Wildcats weren’t up to the task, unable to live up to the moment, unable to do anything with the absurdly hot-shooting Badgers.
It was too much for senior point guard T.J. McConnell to handle, breaking down in tears and apologizing to Arizona coach Sean Miller when he finally checked out in the finals seconds of No. 1 Wisconsin’s 85-78 NCAA Tournament West Region final victory at Staples Center, for the final time as a Wildcat.
“That guy right there is like my dad, so I just felt down that I couldn’t get him there,” McConnell said.
There was very little Arizona could do as Wisconsin (35-3) treated its highly ranked defense like a sieve, hitting 12-of-18 3-pointers, shooting 55.6 percent overall and 79 percent in the second half. The Wildcats shot 55.8 percent themselves, made 28 of 30 free throws, and yet they are going back home to Tucson.
“If you would have told me that we would play the game with 10 turnovers, that we would have one more rebound than them, that we would go 28-for-30 from the foul line and shoot 55 percent from the floor, I would tell you that we were going to win,” Miller said. “But their second-half offense was spectacular, extraordinary, and they deserve the credit for that.”
Miller put on a brave face afterward, trying to focus on the positives of another 30-plus win season, his third since taking the Arizona (34-4) job six years ago, of another memorable season that fell short of the Final Four, of the most wins in a season since 1988.
“It’s always hard to end a season, but especially when you have a great team like we have. I’m not going to apologize for being 34-4, and I’m not going to apologize for not making the Final Four, and neither should these guys,” Miller said. “There are a couple of them, and I’ll just use [McConnell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson] as an example, that have won 69 games in two years, have won back-to-back conference championships, have been in the top 10 for every day that they’ve dribbled a ball at Arizona, and we lost to Wisconsin in two hard-fought battles in the Elite Eight. And if that’s a problem, I think you know what you can do.”
Yet, the pain was apparent, as he was asked about all of his losses in the Elite Eight — four in seven years, one as the Xavier head coach in 2008, the past three by a mere 10 points altogether.
“That’s probably a record, right?” he said, showing a touch of gallows humor.