Miller: UA needs to run, rebound more vs. Utah

Except for a head-scratching loss against St. John’s at San Francisco last month, the Arizona Wildcats could figure that there really hasn’t been all that much to worry about.

They’ve lost three games to top-10 teams since Dec. 7, and stayed close in all of them, so no real shame there. Then, on Sunday, they lost at an experienced Oregon State team that may be coach Wayne Tinkle’s best one yet.

But … the Wildcats are still 2-5 in their last seven games, and something doesn’t sound right about that.

Even coach Sean Miller acknowledged that much.

“When you sign up to play at Arizona, part of the lure is to be able to play in front of our amazing crowd and the biggest and brightest stage that you can have in college basketball,” Miller said Wednesday. “With that, there’s high expectations on our players and our coaching staff, and on me and deservedly so. Very few programs have the support that we have, the longstanding tradition of success goes beyond 30 years at this point.”

So with Utah coming to McKale Center on Thursday night, followed by a showdown with 20-ranked Colorado on Saturday, it’s a big weekend for the Wildcats.

But so are all weekends to Miller. “Every game that we play, there’s pressure, and that’s part of why you want to come to Arizona — to be a part of that pressure,” Miller said. “It brings out the best in talented young players and talented teams and coaches.

“Embracing that is really what we try to do, but losing is not the answer. And people are held accountable when you lose. I’m held accountable when we lose and right now, that’s what we’re doing.”

But if there’s outside noise about all that losing, the Wildcats may not be listening.

The way senior forward Stone Gettings described it Wednesday, their focus has been on their close losses and how they can change those outcomes in the future.

“Honestly, we try to keep ourselves pretty insulated,” Gettings said. “Those games we lost — on the road against Baylor, the game against Gonzaga, the game against Oregon, they all were really close and could have gone either way if we had gotten one more 50-50 ball or whatever. So that gives us confidence that we’re capable of beating anyone.”

Gettings said the team’s freshmen are continuing to improve, too.