USC, Check! Arizona Basketball still reigns supreme in the Pac-12

The Cats are back to winning! Arizona Basketball routed the USC Trojans by 14 points on Saturday night, 81-67.

What a week, huh? Arizona Basketball (10-3 Pac-12, 20-6 Overall) reigns supreme in first place after beating USC (8-5 Pac-12, 17-8 Overall) on Saturday night. The Cats returned home after splitting games on the road upending Washington State and losing a heartbreaker at the buzzer to the Washington Huskies to take on the Los Angeles schools.

To show you just how much parity is in the Pac-12 Conference, Oregon State just beat Washington at the buzzer with a three-pointer, and UCLA lost to ASU by nine points (88-79). So Arizona beat ASU, UCLA beat Arizona and ASU beat UCLA. In Conference of Champions, any team with a winning record could win. There are nine Pac-12 teams with winning records right now. This is probably why Bill Walton feels nine teams will make the NCAA Tournament this weekend.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

It’s clear after the loss to UCLA; The consensus from fans and mainstream media is that as goes Deandre Ayton and Rawle Alkins game go so goes the Wildcats chances of winning. The truth is that it takes the team operating on all cylinders to beat opponents, but the very least your big playmakers have to show up.

Ayton has earned 16 double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 24 out of 26 games and is also two points shy of 26 double-digit scores (in two games he earned nine points). Dre was back making effortless dunks and shutting down Bennie Boatwright. But that spin move, that brought down the house! More of that, please!

Since Alkins return, the Wildcats have won 11 out of 14 games with losses to Colorado, Washington (at the buzzer) and UCLA at home. Contrary to popular belief, the Cats have won two out of three games when Alkins has scored less than ten points. As we have said before, it is not necessarily Alkins scoring that makes his game so dangerous for opponents. It is everything else he does on the court. Alkins ranks No. 1 in average steals per game on the Cats at 1.4, and third in assists at 2.8 behind Parker Jackson-Cartwright (4.9) and Allonzo Trier (3.1). Alkins topped the Cats in this one, making four of seven three-pointers and brought the energy

Trier has one of the sweetest shots around. When he shoots a three-point shot, his range beyond the arc is vast, and when he gets going, there’s no stopping him. Although he didn’t score the most against SC, he almost earned a double-double. Looks like even if his defender invades his space or cylindar, he cannot push or look to push off while dribbling the ball. This might be a hard thing to do because it doesn’t seem like a foul, but the refs are looking for this now, and have called it in several games.

The Cats would not win without Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s assists and dribbling skills which have helped the Cats get out of the many press situations the Trojans presented. The Cats would not win without Dusan Ristic’s beast mode which we have seen emerge over the last month or so. Dus is an entirely different player this season, shutting down USC star Chimezie Metu who is slotted to be drafted No. 27 by Sports Illustrated NBA Analyst Jeremy Woo. Thinking it’s time for this 7-foot, three-point shooting, and five-time double-double earning Big Man to hit the NBA Mock Draft board.

The game against the Trojans was so much different than the Cats game against the Bruins. Against USC, the Cats came out super confident. Zo started the scoring off with a jumper, followed by Ayton followed by Alkins who then hit his first of three three-pointers. The King’s shot was back, Dusan continued fighting for the ball on the boards, and Ayton was scoring as well.

Ristic finally hit his first jumper at with 10:15 left in the first half and ended the game earning a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and a block. But he didn’t just score and grab rebounds, he, along with Alkins, excited the fans, got them to pump up the volume, were selected for the post-game press conference and both put out tweets after the game about getting criticism and rising above it to get the win.

Keanu Pinder, I thought, added a lot to the win making both of his shots, blocking a shot and sparking the offense. For some reason, just when he made an acrobatic shot, Miller took him out of the game. Pinder has provided great defensive efforts coming off the bench along with Ira Lee made the most of his five minutes on the court with a sweet spin move to the basket. Lee had played together with Metu and Bennie Boatwright in the Drew League over the summer, so he knew their game.

USC was behind halfway through the first half, then tied the Cats three times then pulled ahead by just two points at that was the last time they saw a lead. The Trojans were dominated by the Wildcats, and McKale was alive and rockin’.

Four starters ended the night in double digits:

1. Alkins topped the leaderboard with a team-high 20 points and five assists adding three rebounds a block and a steal.
2. Ayton came in next with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a block.
3. Ristic came in third with 16 points and 11 rebounds (Double-Double).
4. Trier came in fourth with 14 points and eight rebounds (season-high), four assists and a steal.

Confidence restoration complete!

Here are the highlights from the game care of the Pac-12:

Rawle’s post-game interview:

There are just five games left in the regular season. Arizona travels up north this Thursday to Tempe Normal to take on the Sun Devils at home. The Sun Devils have won their last two games at home against USC and UCLA. They don’t play again for a week. Then the Cats travel to Oregon to take on the Ducks and the Beavers in rematches.

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Finally, the Northern California teams come to Tucson for rematches against the Cats. Arizona has seen all the teams before, and have beaten all of them, two of them in road games. It should be fun! So go to Phoenix and support your Cats, they will appreciate it. The Savage Life is alive and well!