Arizona loses to St. John’s; third loss in four games

SAN FRANCISCO — In 10 previous games under Sean Miller just before their annual Christmas break, the Arizona Wildcats rarely had trouble finding energy and focus.

The Wildcats won nine of those games and the lone stumble came by only four points at UNLV in 2014-15.

This one wasn’t supposed to be any different. In a 70-67 loss to St. John’s on Saturday at the Chase Center, the Wildcats were facing a team that traveled all the way across the country, was missing one of its best players (guard Mustapha Heron because of an ankle sprain) and had to deal with a UA-friendly environment at the Chase Center, where the majority of the sparse crowd was rooting for the Wildcats.

Those fans were most noticeable late in the game, when Arizona had taken a late one-point lead after trailing by up to 16 points, chanting “U of A” when the Wildcats cut it to four, after Max Hazzard hit a 3-pointer that gave UA a 67-66 lead with 1:21 left and before a final possession in which Nico Mannion missed a 3-pointer and a contested layup.

None of that was quite enough because, this time, the Wildcats did suffer from a clear lack of energy early in the game that came on top of St. John’s pressure defense.

UA had 10 turnovers that led to 14 St. John’s points and gave up seven offensive rebounds before halftime – all while shooting poorly from 3-point range (3 for 16) over the entire game.

In short, the Wildcats never really recovered after stumbling to a 14-point halftime deficit.

“We didn’t come out of the gates playing hard enough,” Miller said. “We didn’t match their intensity, and I give St John’s a lot of credit, especially without Mustafa playing. He’s one of their best players and they did a great job flying across the country and playing their style.”

UA knew about their style all week, having not played since their Dec. 14 loss to Gonzaga, and Miller found they didn’t struggle overly against backcourt pressure but against frontcourt pressure.

“It took us a while to adjust,” Miller said. “St John’s has a unique style.’