Everybody has an opinion, right? Let’s go to the reaction after Arizona’s 73-71 loss to Xavier in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night from San Jose, Calif. We’ll start with the players …
Man, it's heart breaking! But it was still a great season! Thanks for all the fans and family who supported us this season! Appreciate y'all
— Keanu Pinder (@KeanuPinder28) March 24, 2017
Tough one
— Rawle Alkins (@Iam_RawleAlkins) March 24, 2017
Tough and hurtful loss, but thanks to all the fans that supported us throughout this year. You guys made this year special #BearDown
— Dušan Ristić (@ristic_dusan) March 24, 2017
First they love you then they hate you. It's all pure deception.
— Allonzo Trier (@ISO_ZO) March 24, 2017
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Veteran college basketball writer Mike DeCourcy in the Sporting News:
“Against Xavier, Arizona struggled terribly to defend the Musketeers’ beautifully designed man-to-man offense; Xavier shot 52.5 percent from the field. The Wildcats yielded only 6 of 16 from 3-point range, but two of those came after Arizona had built an eight-point lead with 3:45 left. In a 71-all tie inside the final minute, the Wildcats ignored Trier and All-American Lauri Markkanen and ran a post-up play for Dusan Ristic, who had made 7 of 9 from the field but was poorly positioned on the catch and wound up air-balling his attempt.” The full story…
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Former Arizona State player and current Sun Devils radio analyst:
Everybody waiting for my UofA joke!!Dont have one!!Only joke is UofA fans bashing Sean Miller!!! Dude is a DAMN GOOD COACH!!! SHUT UP!!!
— Kyle Dodd (@K_Dodd3) March 24, 2017
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Former Wisconsin Badgers Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky, whose teams beat Arizona in the 2014 and 2015 West regional finals in Anaheim and Los Angeles:
Zona needs to not play in California in the NCAA tournament haha
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 24, 2017
Or they just keep running into random white guys from Suburban Chicago https://t.co/kFaAB8npcS
— Frank Kaminsky III (@FSKPart3) March 24, 2017
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National pundits:
Chris Mack has depantsed Sean Miller tonight
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) March 24, 2017
Sean Miller is totally owning this. Knows he got out-coached and isn't running from it. Have to give him credit for that, at least.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 24, 2017
If you are using this game result to hate on Sean Miller then you are not smart enough to be on Twitter.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 24, 2017
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More from Seth Davis on SI.com:
“… even though Arizona was in great position to win this game, the Wildcats’ zone offense was pretty awful most of the night. If it weren’t for those 14 offensive rebounds, the game might not have even been all that close. And it was positively inexcusable to have a dynamic offensive weapon like 7’0” freshman Lauri Markkanen and allow him to go the final 11 minutes without taking a shot.” The full story…
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Former Arizona State and current Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek, an early coaching mentor of Miller’s:
.@HerbSendek on Sean Miller critics: "It's just absurd. It's not even worth breath to talk about. It doesn't merit an intelligent response."
— 1580 The Fanatic (@1580TheFanatic) March 24, 2017
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Wikipedia pranksters…
Somebody updated Sean Miller’s Wikipedia page, and they’re not happy. pic.twitter.com/aTuwjyIouC
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 24, 2017
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Stats:
UA prides itself (Olson & Miller eras) on getting to the foul line. Well, in last 5 NCAA losses:
Opp: 80-104 (76.9%)
UA: 77-93 (82.8%).— Blair Willis (@BlairWillisUA) March 24, 2017
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Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo! Sports…
“When the Wildcats reeled off 12 straight points to take a 69-61 lead with 3:45 remaining, they appeared to have punched their ticket to a fourth Elite Eight in seven seasons. They instead let an outstanding 32-win season to end with the pain of knowing they wasted a golden opportunity to get Sean Miller to his elusive first Final Four.” The full story …
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Perspective?
@AGWildcatReport Here's all I know for certain: only 5 teams in the country beat Arizona all year. All are still in the NCAA tournament. #thinkpositive
— Damon Duerr (@KingBeevr) March 24, 2017
