LAS VEGAS —
For 45 minutes Saturday afternoon, the Pac-12’s game management staff practiced the trophy presentation ceremony. It had to be just right, every detail in order, just like a stage-show rehearsal on the strip.
Security was coached to separate the uninvited court-stormers from Sean Miller, who would take the trophy from commissioner Larry Scott. The two men would force a smile at one another. Confetti would fly.
Practice, practice, practice.
But that was nothing compared to what Arizona did for the last five months, spending more than 200 hours in the gym, working on every detail, leaving out only the confetti and trophy presentation.
It was the one thing Miller’s Arizona teams hadn’t been able to do in five years: Get from the locker room to the net-cutting platform at the Pac-12 tournament.
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But this time it all came together Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Arizona had spent 80 minutes rehearsing how to beat Oregon in January, and when the two met for the Pac-12 tournament championship, practice made perfect.
The Wildcats won 80-52. UA swept three games against the Ducks by an aggregate 80 points.
“If you keep doing things the right way, keep working, eventually you break through,” said Miller.
It was hammer time, a combination Phi Slamma Jamma and Phi Slamma Clappa, in an arena locked down by about 90 percent UA fans.
“The next time someone asks you when Arizona last won the Pac-12 tournament,” Miller said. “Tell them 2015.”
It is something he has wanted to say for five years.
Arizona played with such purpose that at the beginning of the second half, when Oregon made its last run (if you call it that), the Ducks made 8 of 9 shots, Arizona countered by making 8 of 11.
Its lead actually grew from 15 points to 16 even though Oregon had shot 89 percent.
The Ducks were so frustrated they were called for three technical fouls in the second half. Even at that, the lead grew to 31 at 78-47 when Miller cleared the bench and began to clear his throat for the awkward trophy presentation from Scott, the front-row-sitting, photo-op commissioner who was soundly booed by UA fans at halftime.
There would be no tip-toeing. Miller’s sixth Arizona team, 31-3, has become, if nothing else, a strong finisher.
The Ducks were so out of it that of the two players they brought to the formal interview room, one was Jalil Abdul-Bassit. He scored three points.
“We didn’t compete at the defensive end,” said UO guard Joseph Young, who made his first two shots, and then clanked his next eight in the first half as UA built a 15-point lead. “Arizona won those 50-50 balls.”
The Wildcats not only won inside and outside, but the hustle plays, too.
The most perplexing question of the week was: Who was the tournament’s MVP? After mostly getting blanked in the Pac-12 regular-season awards, the Cats had three legitimate MVP prospects: Brandon Ashley, T.J. McConnell and Stanley Johnson.
Ashley scored 59 points and had 24 rebounds. McConnell had 35 points and 23 assists. But it the end, Ashley was an easy choice. He has never played better in multiple games than he played in Las Vegas.
“Brandon winning the MVP is right for so many reasons, on so many levels,” said Miller. “ For him to rise like he did in this tournament, and the last few weeks leading into the tournament, is a great sign for our team.”
The Ducks turned out to be an appetizer, not a treasured menu item in Las Vegas. Arizona won with such authority that it was able to secure a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament without having to worry about a Las Vegas letdown or a Selection Sunday mystery.
The under-sized Ducks were out-rebounded 37-20, much like in Arizona’s two regular-season victories of 90-56 in Tucson and 80-62 in Eugene. In three games, the Wildcats out-rebounded Oregon 111-67.
That’s indicative of the split between Arizona and the Pac-12 this year. Size and depth were two factors that set the Wildcats apart.
In its sweep of the Ducks, Ashley scored 43 points, Johnson 40, McConnell 43, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 31.
“It’s just the right time,” said Ashley. “We’ve developed extremely good chemistry.”
Arizona’s sweep was a strange reflection on Arizona’s once-indifferent attitude toward the league tournament. But those long-ago days, when Lute Olson openly eschewed any appetite for a league playoff, are gone.
If you go through an 0-for-12 drought, as Arizona did from 2003-2014, you finally appreciate what it is to be the last man standing. UA fans have taken ownership of the new dispensation of league tournaments, in Las Vegas.
“Our fans made Vegas our home court for three days,” said Miller. “They had a part in this as well.”
When the NCAA brackets are revealed today, the only suspense will be Arizona’s 15th-seeded first-round opponent. It will be someone like North Dakota State or Eastern Washington, which is likely to be played in Portland, Oregon, beginning Thursday.
“We were a No. 1 seed last year,” said Miller. “We were a bounce away from the Final Four. Right now we’re playing better than we were playing last year.”
