Stanley Johnson added 13 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 12 and Brandon Ashley and Parker Jackson-Cartwright chipped in 11 apiece for Arizona (23-3, 11-2 Pac-12), which won for the ninth time in 10 games as it eyes a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats, who also received 10 points and seven assists from T.J. McConnell and nine rebounds from Tarczewski, had 22 offensive rebounds as part of a 50-34 advantage on the glass.
Malik Martin had 15 points to pace USC (10-16, 2-12), which fell for the 10th time in its last 11 outings. Julian Jacobs added 13 points, and Nikola Jovanovic had 11 and a team-high seven rebounds for the Trojans, who shot 31.6 percent from the field and had 16 turnovers to only nine assists.
USC never led but tied the game twice, first at 9-9 and then again at 18 with a Katin Reinhardt jumper with 11:41 to go in the opening half. But that’s where Arizona took command, reeling off an 18-4 run over the ensuing four minutes to go up 36-22 en route to a 49-31 halftime lead.
The Wildcats, who shot 63.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, picked up right where they left off, scoring the first 12 points of the second half to take a 61-31 lead with 16:02 remaining. Playing strictly for pride at that point, USC was only able to get as close as 23 points the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Arizona won its 35th straight home game – a streak which trails only Gonzaga’s 40-game run in the Division I ranks. … USC freshman PG Jordan McLaughlin (shoulder), the Trojans’ third-leading scorer, missed his second straight game. … Arizona retired the jersey of former standout Jason Terry during a halftime ceremony.
Southern California | Arizona | |
Malik Martin 15 | Scoring | Kaleb Tarczewski 15 |
Julian Jacobs 4 | Assists | T.J. McConnell 7 |
Nikola Jovanovic 7 | Rebounds | Kaleb Tarczewski 9 |
Julian Jacobs 7 | Free Throws Made | Parker Jackson-Cartwright 4 |
Malik Marquetti 2 | Steals | Stanley Johnson 3 |
Elijah Stewart 2 | Blocks | Matt Korcheck 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Southern California | 57 | 31.6 | 5-22 | 16-25 | 9 | 30 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
Arizona | 87 | 47.7 | 7-19 | 18-26 | 19 | 44 | 5 | 7 | 15 |