National Basketball Association
Arizona 70, Southern California 49
When: 3:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 14, 2024
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Jason Garretson, # Deldre Carr, # Mike Littlewood
Attendance:
N/A
By Field Level Media
LAS VEGAS -- Oumar Ballo had a double-double, KJ Lewis scored a team-high 15 points off the bench and No. 6 Arizona put on an impressive defensive display in a 70-49 victory over Southern California in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday.
Arizona (25-7) is known for its go-go offense but showed the kind of defense that is emblematic of successful postseason basketball, holding the ninth-seeded Trojans (15-18) to 16 first-half points and 35.7 percent shooting for the game.
The top-seeded Wildcats, who held USC to its lowest point total of the season and forced 18 turnovers, will play Friday against Oregon, which beat UCLA 68-66 on Thursday night.
Ballo had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double in the past 11 games. Jaden Bradley scored 12, Caleb Love added 11, and Pelle Larsson had 10.
Kobe Johnson led the Trojans with 14 points, and Isaiah Collier contributed 13. Boogie Ellis, who was averaging a team-high 16.9 points, shot 2 of 11 from the field and finished with six points before fouling out with 7:25 to go.
The Wildcats avenged a 78-65 loss at USC on Saturday and improved to 18-0 after a loss in the three-year tenure of coach Tommy Lloyd, who is 86-18 at Arizona.
The game was a high-effort, high-intensity affair from the beginning, with defense ruling most of the first half. Arizona held a small lead for most of the period but finished on a 9-0 run to go up by 28-16 at the break.
Each team committed nine turnovers in the half, with USC shooting only 23.3 percent (7 of 30).
Arizona expanded its 12-point halftime lead, going up 44-24 after a three-point play by Lewis with 13:14 to go. The Wildcats didn't relent, with a fast-break dunk by Bradley resulting a 54-32 lead and a USC timeout at the 8:14 mark
The Wildcats' biggest lead of the second half was 24 points.
--Anthony Gimino, Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Southern California |
|
Arizona |
|
Kobe Johnson 14 |
Scoring |
KJ Lewis 15 |
|
Isaiah Collier 3 |
Assists |
Kylan Boswell 3 |
|
Kobe Johnson 8 |
Rebounds |
Oumar Ballo 13 |
|
DJ Rodman 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Oumar Ballo 4 |
|
Isaiah Collier 2 |
Steals |
Kylan Boswell 3 |
|
Vincent Iwuchukwu 3 |
Blocks |
Oumar Ballo 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Southern California
|
49 |
35.7 |
6-22 |
3-6 |
9 |
28 |
7 |
6 |
18 |
| Arizona
|
70 |
45.6 |
7-19 |
11-18 |
11 |
38 |
3 |
10 |
14 |
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