No. 6 Arizona Basketball throttles Trojans to advance

LAS VEGAS, NV – Just days after losing to USC (15-18, 8-12), No. 6 Arizona Basketball (25-7, 15-5) walloped the Trojans, winning by a 70-49 final to advance.

The Wildcats got their revenge! Just days after losing to the Trojans in their final regular season game as a Pac-12 Conference member, No. 6 Arizona Basketball took care of business on Thursday afternoon.

Returning to action to begin the Quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament, the Wildcats took to the hardwood for a rematch against USC.

Unlike their game on Saturday, Arizona finished with 70 points on 26-57 (45.6 percent) shooting, including 7-19 (36.8 percent) from three.

Three of Arizona's starters finished in double-figures with Caleb Love, Pelle Larsson, and Oumar Ballo scoring 11, 10, and 10 points respectively. However, it was the Wildcats' bench that was the difference in this one!

Combining for 32 points, star freshman KJ Lewis led all scorers in this one, scoring a game-high 15 points on 6-10 shooting with six rebounds.

The Wildcats went on to win by a dominant, 70-49 final over the Trojans, advancing to the Semifinal round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Despite a sluggish start, No. 6 Arizona Basketball was able to use a 12-point to propel themselves to a dominant win.

Looking to begin conference tournament action with a big win over the Trojans on Thursday afternoon, the Wildcats certainly delivered!

Despite a competitive start in which both teams seemingly exchanged buckets over the first 14-plus minutes of game action, USC would cut Arizona's lead to three with 5:49 left to play in the first half when Isaiah Collier connected on a three to make it 19-16.

Luckily, that is the closest they would get in this one as Arizona ratcheted up the defensive intensity, holding SC scoreless over the final 5:49 to play, ending the half on a 9-0 run to make it 28-16 Cats at the break.

Looking to maintain its momentum, Arizona responded quickly, opening the second half on an 11-6 run to put the Cats ahead by 17 with 14:44 to play.

Moments later, Arizona continued to assert its dominance, pushing its lead to as many as 24 when a pair of free throws from Jaden Bradley made it 56-32 in favor of the Wildcats with 7:25 to play.

USC would do its best to come back in this one, cutting Arizona's lead to as little as 17, but that was as close as they would get in this one as the Wildcats eventually paced itself to the dominant, 70-49 win.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 25-7 (15-5) on the year and will turn its focus to Oregon in the Semifinal round of the conference tournament. Tip-off against the Ducks on Friday is set for 5:00 P.M. and will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.

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