After an upset victory over No. 3 UCLA on Thursday, No. 7 Arizona looked lost throughout parts of the game against the Trojans and trailed by six with 6:29 left. Then, the Wildcats offense went on a quick 6-0 run and outscored No. 19 USC 12-3 down the stretch to capture a 72-63 win.
"I knew it was going to be a tough one. I mean, USC is a good team and anytime you have a home weekend, and you have to play a highly ranked UCLA team, and a highly ranked USC team is going to be tough," said coach Tommy Lloyd after a weekend sweep of the LA schools. "And so, to come out through these games 2-0 matter how they looked or felt, is quite an accomplishment."
Despite shooting 47% from the field and holding the Trojans to 34% shooting, the Wildcats struggled to get any control in the first half of the game. The team turned the ball over eight times and allowed 11offensive rebounds that kept USC hanging around.
"I think Benn (Mathurin) had two transition turnovers in a row and you just can't have those, to be a high-level team you just got to cut those out. And Benn was trying to be aggressive, and then Christian Koloko was casually passing the ball inbounds, said Lloyd on the team's turnover issues.
"He had one where I don't know, I didn't see it, but Dalen (Terry) almost got his head taken off. There's a collision, and then there was a turnover and then he had another one that was almost a turnover. So, you just got to tighten it up a little bit. It's that time of year."
Where Arizona (19-2, 9-1 Pac-12) was able to take control of this game was the battle in the paint, the Wildcats dominated 42-28 against USC. The starting frontcourt for the Wildcats combined for 36 points while going 14 for 33 from the floor.
Leading the charge for the Wildcats was forward Azuolas Tubelis, who posted his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
"He looked to me like he's getting pretty close to what we're expecting. So, I've been cautiously optimistic every game, and I've just let it play out in front of my own eyes. But I have had backup plans, you know, like if he didn't look good or wasn't moving good, we could play out their lineup, said Lloyd on Tubelis' performance.
"So, maybe him getting hurt wasn't great for him, or maybe our team, but maybe it allowed us to grow a little bit. And obviously, since that injury, I mean, Oumar (Ballo) has taken off, and Pelle (Larsson) has played really well too. So, you know, those are the two guys that have kind of slid into some of those minutes. And it gives us more options going forward, which is a good thing."
Tubelis had eight points on five shots in the first half, then started to get more aggressive in the second half with 10 points and eight rebounds to help change the pace of the game.
One thing that helped turn the game around for Arizona was the ability to cut down on turnovers. Although the Wildcats ended the game with 11, they were able to limit their turnovers to three in the second half.
USC's (19-4, 9-4) offense has been run through forward Isaiah Mobley, who's averaging 14.7 points a game throughout the season. Against the Wildcats, Mobley scored 15 points, but Lloyd's team made him take 14 shots to get there.
Arizona will now travel to Tempe for a showdown against in-state rival ASU (6-13), who is riding a 4-game losing streak. The game will start at 7 p.m. (MST) on FS1.
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