What Sean Miller said after Arizona’s loss to Baylor

The Wildcats’ coach didn’t have much to say

Sean Miller gave his team an extended tongue-lashing after it got manhandled on the glass in the loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide last Sunday, but he kept things short on Saturday when it was outmuscled by the Baylor Bears.

“There’s not a lot to say,” the UA coach said after the Bears beat the Arizona Wildcats, 58-49, in McKale Center.

Instead, a dejected Miller continually pointed to the Bears’ 51-19 rebounding margin when he spoke to reporters in a brief three-minute postgame interview.

Our recap of the game can be read here, and here is video of Millers press conference. The transcription can be found below.

On why Baylor was so dominant on the boards:

“I don’t know. We certainly emphasized it all week especially on the heels of what happened against Alabama but I don’t know if I’ve been a part of a stat sheet where it’s 51-19. It’s tough to really expand from there. It steals your confidence. … We couldn’t get a rebound and when you get dominated like that, that starts to feel funny. Certainly we didn’t execute against the zone, lost confidence as the game wore on and I credit Baylor.”

On the disappointing performance against Baylor’s zone, seeing Arizona shot 36 percent:

“We didn’t do anything well. It’s the first time this group played against the zone. We had that deer in the headlights look and guys have to make people better. The way they choose to play zone, it’s not about carving it up with plays. It’s about putting players in the right position and driving to pass and moving the ball quickly and getting it into the middle, allowing those guys to be able to turn and face. You learn more and more about your team as the season goes, but we didn’t make good plays when we got it in the middle. A couple times we had some turnovers, but again 51-19, 18 offensive rebounds, that was the story.”

On how disappointed he was that the 52-game home non-conference winning streak ended in this fashion:

“These are our circumstances. It’s easy to play and coach when things are going well. Things aren’t going well right now and I know what comes with that. We have to get better and get ready for our next challenge.”

On how getting outrebounded in dominant fashion affects the team offensively:

“It affects everything. That’s beyond dominated.”

On how he thinks the team will recover:

“I don’t know. We’re going to find out. It’s the first time for this group.”

On if he thought the team would be in a spot like this, given the roster:

“We certainly had a unique starting point, but this is our team right now. We’ve played some good basketball. Tonight was not one of those nights, though.”

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