No. 11 Arizona Basketball trounces the USC Trojans

TUCSON, AZ – Looking to rebound from their lopsided loss to Oregon, No. 11 Arizona Basketball (16-3, 5-3) rebounded, trouncing USC (13-6, 5-3), 81-66.

Following a shellacking at the hands of Oregon, No. 11 Arizona Basketball was back in action in McKale, this time taking on Pac-12 foe USC.

A talented team that was still winless on the road against a Top 25-ranked opponent, Arizona needed to bring a better effort than we saw last weekend.

Coming out with a strong offensive effort that resulted in a 48.3 percent shooting percentage, including 12-24 from three that led to a one-sided, 81-66 win over the Trojans.

Overall, it was a combined effort in this one as five different Wildcats finished in double-figures; however, it was Courtney Ramey that led the way, finishing his day with a team-high 16 points and two assists on 5-10 shooting from three.

Azuolas Tubelis had a dominant game, registering 15 points and 17 rebounds, meanwhile, Pelle Larsson was electric off the bench, scoring 15, grabbing three rebounds, and dishing three assists.

Despite USC’s best efforts to keep things close, No. 11 Arizona Basketball used a big first half to cruise to the comfortable win over the Trojans.

Looking to shake off the stench of last week, this one started in Arizona’s favor, as from the tip, the Wildcats looked dominant, jumping out to a commanding, 9-2 lead after the first three-plus minutes of play.

Unfortunately, just moments later USC would begin to find its rhythm, cutting Arizona’s lead to three points. Luckily for us, that would be the closest that USC would get in this one as the Wildcats continued their offensive barrage.

Leading 9-6, Arizona would close the half by outscoring USC 32-20 to enter the half with a commanding, 41-26 lead.

Hoping to continue their momentum, the Wildcats’ offense would continue to look sharp in the second half as well, despite the myriad of turnovers.

Leading by 15, USC would start the half on a 6-0 run to cut Arizona’s lead to just nine, but the Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run themselves to push their lead back to 15.

The Trojans would continue to battle in this one, and fortunately for every run made by USC, Arizona had an answer, keeping USC’s offense mostly at bay.

Arizona would eventually cruise to the 81-66 win over the Trojans to improve their overall record to 16-3 (5-3) on the season.

The Wildcats will resume basketball action on Saturday when they welcome No. 5 UCLA to town for what should be an exciting matchup. Tip-off against the Bruins on Saturday is set for 12:00 PM MST.

Don’t forget to follow us at @ZonaZealots on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of Arizona news, opinions, and recruiting updates!