Mountain trip has been treacherous for Arizona Wildcats, Sean Miller in recent history

By Bruce Pascoe / Arizona Daily Star

Arizona sophomore Dylan Smith knows of the rumor, but the vast majority of his teammates can’t confirm it first-hand.

“The last time we went to the mountains, I heard we were 0-2,” Smith said.

The archives say it’s true. Arizona lost 75-72 at Colorado on Feb. 24, 2016, and then 70-64 at Utah three days later, one of only eight times since 2010-11 that the Wildcats have lost multiple games in a row.

It was memorable, too: Colorado students celebrated the Buffs’ upset win with a rowdy court storm that prompted an outburst from UA coach Sean Miller — which in turn helped lead to new Pac-12 court storming fines — while Utah beat Arizona for the first time ever in Pac-12 play by shooting 60 percent in the first half against the Wildcats.

While Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Allonzo Trier and Dusan Ristic were the only three current Wildcats to experience the trip, Miller said he would not be using that history to warn his other players about what’s ahead.

“Nah, that’s like 15 years ago,” Miller said. “That’s so irrelevant to the world today, you know. Obama used to be the president, Trump is now. Khalil Tate is the quarterback. Remember when Gronkowski was here? Sean Elliott used to play here. Doesn’t have a lot to do with today.”

Maybe not, but history says the mountain trip is never easy for the Wildcats. They are 6-4 on it since the Utes and Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12. Here’s why:

Under coach Larry Krystkowiak, the Utes have come the closest to matching UA’s Pac-12-leading home attendance of 14,224 by filling most of the 15,000-seat Huntsman Center on a regular basis. They drew an average of 11,988 for a nonconference schedule this season that included only one power conference team (Missouri) and none of its heated instate rivals.

In that supportive environment, the Utes have won 78.1 percent of their games over Krystkowiak’s seven seasons. They went 14-4 at home during their NIT-bound season last year and are 6-0 so far this season.

And even though Utah lost its first four home games to Arizona as members of the Pac-12, three of them were decided by six points or less – and the Elite Eight Wildcats of 2013-14 needed overtime to get it done in Salt Lake.

Thursday’s game figures to have a tense vibe to it, too. Both teams play at a relatively slow tempo, the game will be carried on ESPN and another big crowd will be on hand. Even though Utah students won’t return until Monday, the school said it sold 12,385 tickets for the game as of Wednesday morning.

Arizona has had an even tougher time of it in Boulder, losing 3 of 5 games there since the Buffs joined the Pac-12.

That includes what some CU fans called the “Valentine’s Day Massacre” of 2012-13, a 71-57 Colorado win that the Buffs used as payback for an earlier game at McKale Center, when a would-be buzzer beater from Sabatino Chen was controversially called off, allowing Arizona to win in overtime.

There was also a 64-63 CU win over UA during the Wildcats’ NIT season of 2011-12 and, of course, the chaos of that 2015-16 game.

Because Colorado’s student section, known as the C-Unit, is adjacent to the Wildcats’ bench, students not only had easy access to the Wildcats’ ears but also to their bodies during their post-game court storm. Miller said center Kaleb Tarczewski was bumped by a fan, prompting a five-minute outburst during his post-game media session.

“Eventually what’s going to happen in the Pac-12 is this: An Arizona player is going to punch a fan. And they’re going to punch the fan out of self-defense,” Miller said. “And when it happens, only when it happens, will everybody say ‘We have to do something so that when the game ends we have a deep breath to be able to leave the court. Or at least shake the other team’s hand and then get to our locker room.

“There’s no sport—football, any sport in the country, professional, major league, whatever, where this happens to the level it happens. And what I mean is it’s literally within five seconds you have a mad rush on the court before our players can even leave the court.

Exactly three months later, the Pac-12 announced it would fine schools a minimum of $25,000 if fans rush a field or court before an opponent can safely leave the area.

Utah plays its games at an elevation of about 4,800 feet while Colorado’s Coors Events Center sits at about 5,400 feet, over a mile high.

Buffs coach Tad Boyle says CU trainers and coaches have told him it takes about three weeks to fully acclimate, which of course is impossible for visiting basketball teams.

“That’s why I always laugh at coaches who say they’re coming in a day early to get used to the altitude,” Boyle said. “It takes a while. You can tell if you leave for three, four or five days, go on vacation and come back. It’s a real thing. It’s been a real equalizer for us.”

It’s tough to tell whether the Wildcats might be impacted this time. UA beat New Mexico 89-73 at 5,300 feet on Dec. 16 in Albuquerque, but the Lobos are 6-9 and actually lost by 18 points to the rebuilding Buffs at Boulder on Dec. 6.

In addition, Miller says he’s still hoping to get more out of his reserves after the Wildcats “wore down a little bit” in the final minutes against ASU – a game that was played at McKale Center’s elevation of only 2,300 feet.

“We’ve had games where our bench has been tentative and it hasn’t helped our team,” Miller said. “It’s made the game more difficult. But the more that we play, because of the youthfulness of our bench, I think they will continue to develop and settle in and have a sense of confidence about them.”

This weekend will provide a test of that confidence. For the Wildcats’ reserves and, possibly everyone else, too.