Southern California @ Arizona preview
McKale Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 20, 2021 ) Arizona 81, Southern California 72
No. 7 Arizona does not have much time to celebrate its biggest win of the season as a matchup against No. 19 Southern California looms Saturday afternoon at Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats (18-2, 8-1 Pac-12) took over first place in the conference on Thursday night by avenging an earlier loss to third-ranked UCLA and beating the visiting Bruins 76-66. Later that night in Tempe, Ariz., the Trojans (19-3, 9-3) rallied to defeat Arizona State 58-53 and remain in third place in the conference standings.
Arizona regained its shooting touch against UCLA and was more determined to find points near the basket after struggling in its previous two outings. The Wildcats had shot a combined 42 of 134 (31.3 percent) from the field, including 10 of 51 (19.6 percent) from 3-point range, in a loss to UCLA and an uninspiring home win over Arizona State.
On Thursday night, fast-paced Arizona -- which leads the country with 20.4 assists per game -- shared the ball for good looks and shot 48 percent overall (24 of 50), while hitting 8 of 22 from 3-point range.
"We didn't need to play frantic," Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. "I told our guys, 'Hey, let's value possession, because they're a good defensive team, so you're going to be deeper in possessions and get comfortable being deeper in possessions.' We ran maybe more sets than we've run all year. You have to be able to win games multiple ways."
USC didn't panic on Thursday night despite being down eight points with 11:16 remaining, committing 14 turnovers and shooting a season-low 30 percent. The Trojans finished the game on a 9-2 run.
"We had too many turnovers and then we took some tough shots and they played really good defense," USC coach Andy Enfield said. "They were very active."
This is the first meeting of the season between Arizona and USC after a scheduled Jan. 2 matchup in Los Angeles was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. That game has yet to be rescheduled.
The big-man battle between the Wildcats and Trojans is intriguing. They are two of the five tallest teams in the country, according to KenPom.com metrics, and Arizona has increasingly been using 7-footers Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo in the same lineup. It's working because Koloko also can defend smaller players on the perimeter.
USC is led by 6-foot-10 Isaiah Mobley, who is averaging 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, both team highs.
Arizona is fifth nationally in rebounding margin at 9.3 per game; USC sits at No. 8 with an edge of 8.6 boards per game.
"They have some high-level guards who have experience," Lloyd said of USC. "They have high-level big guys that have experience. Just a really, really good team, that's why their records is as good as it is."
USC guard Boogie Ellis, a Memphis transfer, has been hot lately, scoring 21 points in each of the past two games to bring his season average up to 13.0.
Arizona is led by guard Bennedict Mathurin, averaging 16.9 points. Power forward Azuolas Tubelis is next at 14.2 points but has been slowed in the past two weeks by an ankle sprain. Koloko is averaging 12.7 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds,
--Field Level Media