蜜柚直播

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. 鈥� After they stumbled, then recovered, then ultimately kicked away a 76-73 loss to Alabama on Sunday, the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats stayed huddled behind a closed Coleman Center locker room door for about 30 minutes.

It wouldn鈥檛 have been a surprise if the door busted open from vibration, considering the volume that burst through the walls.

Based on what he later calmly explained to the Star and a UA video crew, 蜜柚直播 coach Sean Miller appeared to be letting the Wildcats know bluntly that it wasn鈥檛 acceptable to get behind by 19 points, as they did in the first half.

Wasn鈥檛 acceptable to get beaten back routinely in transition, giving up easy buckets and trips to the free-throw line. Wasn鈥檛 acceptable to give up key second shots down the stretch, nor to improperly handle a screen that allowed Alabama鈥檚 Kira Lewis to hit a wide-open 3-pointer with 13 second left.

Basically, Miller was steamed that his guys simply didn鈥檛 play hard enough for the entire game.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not a team this season that has the room for error to make up for those miscues,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚 credit Alabama 鈥� they鈥檙e a talented group and they did a good job but 鈥� there were a number of things where we didn鈥檛 do the best that we鈥檙e capable of.鈥�

Before the Wildcats started humbly leaving the locker room, taking a 7-3 record back to McKale Center for a game with Baylor on Sunday, center Chase Jeter was asked to pull over in front of the 蜜柚直播/Pac-12 backdrop to field a few questions.

It was clear Jeter was in agreement with Miller鈥檚 message. Jeter spoke for three minutes but really needed only 15 seconds or so to explain the Wildcats鈥� loss.

鈥淎 few mental lapses, we didn鈥檛 get back on defense, didn鈥檛 get some crucial rebounds that we should have gotten,鈥� Jeter said. 鈥淭hey played harder than us.鈥�

There was also some crummy shooting. 蜜柚直播 hit just 31.6 percent overall and made only 4 of 14 3-pointers in the first half, going scoreless for over five minutes while falling behind 33-14 just 13 minutes into the game.

In the second half, despite going on an 11-0 run over the final minutes of the first half and first 90 seconds after halftime, the Wildcats also had trouble simply making layups and other close-in shots.

They cut Alabama鈥檚 lead all the way to 47-45 after Brandon Randolph and Brandon Williams both made 3-pointers just before the first media timeout of the second half, but were down 53-45 some three minutes later after missing seven straight from the field.

There鈥檚 a theory that human nature makes it difficult to keep the foot on the accelerator after coming back from a huge deficit, as the Wildcats did Sunday, but Miller wasn鈥檛 buying it.

鈥淏eing down 19 is the biggest problem,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 need to be down 19. You give teams like Alabama transition layups, 3s, they can really get going because they have a great group of guys in transition, and that鈥檚 where they thrive.

鈥淚n the first half, to me, it was more of that and, in our halfcourt defense, just the details of our defense weren鈥檛 sharp.鈥�

At that point, eight minutes after halftime, 蜜柚直播 made just 3 of 10 shots from inside the 3-point arc, negating their surge from outside it. Even Jeter was 4 of 11 at one point early, and he wasn鈥檛 the only one struggling to score inside.

But the shots weren鈥檛 really what bothered Miller, since most of them were reasonably good ones to take.

They just didn鈥檛 go in.

鈥淚 think a couple of the shots we missed were really good high-percentage shots, and that鈥檚 going to happen over the long course of the season,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭he focus is more on the things that we need to do a better job of as a team. In the first half, maybe we took a few ill-advised quick shots, which you have to be careful on the road of doing.鈥�

Jeter looked mostly elsewhere for blame, too.

鈥淲e鈥檒l make and miss shots throughout the course of the game but more importantly here, we didn鈥檛 do the job that we needed to defensively,鈥� Jeter said. 鈥淐an鈥檛 blame it on missing any shots or anything. We kind of broke down defensively and Alabama took advantage.鈥�

And because the Wildcats broke down defensively, Alabama was able to get high-percentage shots it made, allowing it to hold 蜜柚直播 off even after the Wildcats took a brief one-possession lead midway through the second half.

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The Crimson Tide shot 46.4 percent overall and hit 8 of 19 3-pointers, none more critical than Lewis鈥� 3 from the right wing with 13 seconds left.

The Wildcats left Lewis wide open after one of them switched off a screen and another didn鈥檛. Miller said the problem might have resulted from miscommunication, possibly even from him.

鈥淭wo people went with a roller and that can鈥檛 happen,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚f he makes that shot, we want him to make a tough shot, a contested shot, not a wide-open shot where we broke down.鈥�

Instead, Lewis had the ball in a position where he wasn鈥檛 about to miss. Just 17 years old but already the Tide鈥檚 leading scorer, Lewis drilled the shot to give Alabama a 73-68 lead that forced the Wildcats to begin fouling.

鈥淚 always have confidence in Kira shooting the ball, especially when he gets a good look like that,鈥� Alabama forward Alex Reese said.

Added teammate Tevin Mack: 鈥淗e鈥檚 a killer, for sure.鈥�

蜜柚直播 tried to stay alive when Brandon Randolph quickly hit a 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left, cutting Alabama鈥檚 lead to 73-71 with seven seconds left. But John Petty hit 1 of 2 free throws with five seconds left to put the Tide up by three and Justin Coleman was then fouled in the backcourt, before he could take or assist a game-tying 3-pointer.

Coleman hit both free throws but was then forced to foul Lewis, who made both he took with three seconds left. A final desperation heave from Coleman fell far short.

Returning to where he spent his first two college seasons with Alabama, Coleman finished with eight points, five rebounds and six assists, but had five turnovers. Jeter had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Wildcats, while Lewis finished with 20 to lead all scorers.