No. 5 Arizona (24-6, 15-4 Pac-12) will close its final regular season in the Pac-12 against USC with the regular season championship already locked up.

The Wildcats clinched the conference championship in the regular season on Thursday after defeating UCLA with Washington State falling to Washington.

UA defeated the Trojans 82-67 earlier this season in Tucson, but USC was without two of its top players in Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier in that game. Caleb Love led Arizona with 20 points in the win.

Here is a preview of Arizona's final regular season Pac-12 game against USC Saturday night.

GAME INFO

Who: No. 5 Arizona (24-6, 15-4 Pac-12; last game: 88-65 win at UCLA) vs. USC (13-17, 7-12 Pac-12; last game: 81-73 win over Arizona State)

When: 8 p.m. (MST)

Where: Galen Center

TV: ESPN

All-time series: Arizona leads 75-45 (last game: UA won 82-67 on January 17, 2024 in Tucson)

SNAPSHOT

Head coach: Andy Enfield

Conference standing: 11th (Pac-12)

2022-23 finish: 22-11 (14-6 Pac-12)

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Scoring offense: Arizona (2nd/90.3 PPG) | USC (149th/74.6 PPG)

Scoring defense: Arizona (213th/73.0 PPG) | USC (259th/74.8 PPG)

Rebounding margin: Arizona (2nd/11.1) | USC (265th/-1.6)

Assists per game: Arizona (2nd/19.1) | USC (42nd/15.7)

Turnovers per game: Arizona (164th/11.7) | USC (248th/12.6)

WHO TO KNOW: USC

G Boogie Ellis

The leading scorer for the Trojans was out against Arizona earlier this season due to a hamstring injury. He has been banged up for a large portion of the year due to multiple injuries, but is averaging 17 points per game this season on 44 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from deep.

Ellis is coming off a 28 point performance against Arizona State where he knocked down 8-of-12 shots from the field and 6-of-8 shots from deep. It was the fourth game he has scored exactly 28 points this season, just two points shy of his season-high when he dropped 30 points against Colorado.

Ellis is shooting significantly better at home this season where he is averaging just over 19 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from deep. That is in comparison to him averaging just under 13 points on the road on 38 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from deep.

G Isaiah Collier

Considered one of the top freshman in the country, Collier suffered a hand injury against Washington State on January 10 that cost him close to one month of action including the first game against Arizona.

Collier dropped 20 points in his first game back from injury against Cal, which included shooting 12-of-16 from the free throw line. That has been a problem for the freshman at times this season as Collier is shooting 67 percent from the charity stripe.

He dropped a career-high 31 points against Washington last week, and has scored at least 20 points in seven games this season overall. Collier has also been active defensively, recording at least one steal in 12 straight games with multiple steals in seven of them.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

- Arizona finishing the regular season strong

While the Wildcats have the regular season championship wrapped up, they'll still want to enter the Pac-12 Tournament on a high note with a win over USC to finish the regular season. This is the time of year where you want that momentum heading into not only the conference tournament, but most importantly the NCAA Tournament.

- Arizona containing the dynamic duo of Ellis and Collier

UA dominated the first meeting against the Trojans back in January, but that came without arguably the two best players for USC as previously mentioned.

While it has been better as of late, the three-point defense has been a struggle for Arizona at times this season. It is a part of the game for the Wildcats that will be important for a run in the NCAA Tournament.

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