蜜柚直播

This time it wasn鈥檛 supposed to be fun. The No. 5-ranked Wildcats had just lost 78-65 to an underachieving USC team, shattering the late-season momentum they had from four straight wins as well as losing to the Trojans for the first time in seven games.

While they sewed up the Pac-12 Tournament鈥檚 No. 1 seed by winning the Pac-12 regular-season title outright on Thursday with an 88-65 win at UCLA, the Wildcats鈥� loss Saturday jeopardized their chances of an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.

More chillingly, perhaps, it exposed the sort of weaknesses they could have against a team with a slower pace and/or a tricky defense in the NCAA Tournament.

Like in that first-round loss last season against Princeton.

So while coach Tommy Lloyd and his players were huddling in their locker room late Saturday night, a stream of frantic, desperate, upset replies stacked up in response to the team鈥檚 official social media posts listing the game score. One even posted a suicide prevention phone number.

But after about 20 minutes, Lloyd emerged from the locker room to do his radio interview, then he walked into a Galen Center corridor and greeted a small group of reporters with a smile, a joke and a laugh.

He was the same guy. Even if his team wasn鈥檛.

鈥淵ou know, we鈥檙e thankful,鈥� Lloyd said when asked how that postgame chat went. 鈥淭hese guys had a great regular season. To win a Pac-12 regular-season championship, nothing should be taken lightly. Obviously, we wanted to play better today, and we didn鈥檛.

鈥淏ut maybe we were given a gift by 鈥橲C, and we could really learn from this. So that鈥檚 going to be our focus.鈥�

His upbeat approach may have sunk in. The player UA chose for postgame interviews, center Oumar Ballo, pretty much repeated what Lloyd said.

鈥淧ositive. Positive,鈥� Ballo said of the locker-room vibe. 鈥淣othing coming from this than just learning. And then (it鈥檚) keep our head up because we know we鈥檙e playing for a lot, (more) than just this one game. All we need is a positive mindset.鈥�

That even went, apparently, for guard Caleb Love, who had his roughest game as a Wildcat. The North Carolina transfer scored just two points while shooting 1 of 10 from the field, missing all six 3-pointers he tried while turning the ball over five times.

It was only the second time all season Love has scored in single digits, the first a nine-point effort in UA鈥檚 blowout win over Southern on Nov. 13.

鈥淐aleb is a positive guy and he doesn鈥檛 think of himself. He thinks team first,鈥� Ballo said. 鈥淎fter the game, I see him, his face is like a normal guy. He just wants us to win. And if we don鈥檛 win, he鈥檚 not the one to carry the blame.鈥�

But because he鈥檚 the Wildcats鈥� scoring leader, with his name placed on the Wooden Award ballot Saturday and possibly also on the Pac-12 Player of the Year award when it is announced Tuesday, Love鈥檚 play might be the first place to start when it comes to the lessons Lloyd said the Wildcats may have learned against USC.

Lloyd said Love has had 鈥渁n MVP type of year,鈥� but that he simply had an off night.

鈥淚t鈥檒l be great for him and I to sit down and discuss,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淚 really appreciate him. I respect him as a player and as a person. These are the experiences coaches and players need to have together.鈥�

Chances are, their discussion may involve shot selection. While Love backed off after missing his first two shots on Thursday at UCLA, then rattling off 12 points in six minutes before halftime when he found holes in the Bruins鈥� defense, Love made his only shot of the USC game on the Wildcats鈥� first possession 鈥� a driving layup 鈥� and then kept shooting and handling the ball without much success.

Some of the blame was attributable to a USC defense that aimed squarely at him.

鈥淲e tried to contest every shot he took, especially his 3s,鈥� USC coach Andy Enfield said. 鈥淭hen we just tried to switch zone and our man (defense). We just tried to pressure him and make him put the ball on the floor.

鈥淔ortunately it worked. He鈥檚 a really good player.鈥�

But 蜜柚直播 has also won games with balance this season, without Love having to be the guy every night, with four or five of players routinely scoring in double figures.

That balance also evaporated Saturday. The Wildcats were able to work the ball inside, with Ballo and power forward Keyshad Johnson each collecting 17 points. But UA still missed half of its 20 layups and managed only two second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds.

Their perimeter game was even shakier. The Wildcats hit just 6 of 21 3-pointers (28.6%), while the starting perimeter trio of Love, Pelle Larsson and Kylan Boswell totaled 13 of UA鈥檚 18 turnovers.

Larsson was 1 for 5 from 3-point range with five turnovers to his four assists, while Boswell was 2 of 9 overall from the field while matching his three assists with three turnovers.

Clearly, Love wasn鈥檛 the Wildcats鈥� only offensive issue.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think our shot selection overall was great,鈥� Lloyd said.

While the Wildcats faced an obvious letdown situation after wrapping up the Pac-12 title at UCLA, Lloyd fretted that he might have 鈥渢alked them into it鈥� by warning them often to avoid a letdown.

He also said the Wildcats needed to learn to adjust to the officiating better, with USC taking two more free throws than UA and scoring five more points at the line.

鈥淚鈥檓 not saying it was officiated poorly, because maybe our approach wasn鈥檛 right,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just getting better at that kind of stuff. Because these games get really emotional and as they鈥檙e playing out, you have to be able to control your emotions and draw up on on your season鈥檚 experiences.鈥�

Lloyd gave USC鈥檚 defense credit for throwing the Wildcats out of rhythm with a defense that switched schemes back and forth, but he also said his players should be able to handle something like that.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there was anything overwhelming,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just they played better than us overall. We had 18 turnovers and shot a poor percentage 鈥� (so) it鈥檚 gonna be a tough night.鈥�

Lloyd ended his five-minute postgame interview on that note, about as negative as he became, nothing like how he expressed displeasure repeatedly after UA鈥檚 losses at Stanford and Oregon State earlier this season.

Then he propped himself off his interview stool, clapped his hands once and said goodbye to the assembled media the way he often does on just about any other occasion.

鈥淵ou guys are the best,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hank you, guys.鈥�

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