By Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star
After winning seven consecutive games, the Arizona Wildcats fell just short on the road against Washington and lost off a buzzer-beater after Deandre Ayton blocked a shot, which put the ball right in the hands of Dominic Green.
Game over.
The Cats return home this week to battle UCLA on Thursday at 8 p.m. and USC at 8:15 p.m., both games will be on ESPN.
With the second to last set of home games, where do the Wildcats stand despite having a 19-5 record? The narrative has been repetitive all year: Arizona is one of the best offensive teams in the country, but defense... that's a whole different conversation.
Per Ken Pom, Arizona is ranked No. 106 in adjusted defensive efficiency in college basketball. Teams like Jacksonville State, Illinois Chicago, Northern Kentucky and Wagner are ranked higher than the Wildcats in defense.
Now in February, the Wildcats haven't improved much in the defensive category, which could be a concern moving forward, but college basketball has been so up-and-down with Top 10 teams losing on a weekly basis that Arizona's struggles are considered less severe, because of parity.
Head coach Sean Miller and point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright held a press conference Monday, here's what they had to say.
