Nearly two weeks after their 22-point lead evaporated in a loss at ASU, the Arizona Wildcats nearly gave off the same sort of feeling Thursday.
In their 85-80 win over USC at McKale Center, the Wildcats took two leads of 20 points in the second half but watched their advantage slip down to just a three-point margin in the final minute.
USC’s Daniel Utomi hit a 3-pointer to cut the Wildcats' lead to just 81-77 with 29.7 seconds left and, after Dylan Smith and Josh Green each missed one of their two free throws, Jonah Mathews did the same to make it 83-80 with five seconds left.
Finally, the Wildcats were able to seal the win when Nico Mannion hit a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds left.
It wasn’t a complete meltdown like the ASU game was, but it wasn’t anything like last weekend, either, when the Wildcats collected the Pac-12’s first road sweep of the season by winning at Washington and Washington State.
“I don't know if I’ve felt better about this year's team on that trip, but tonight we obviously reverted,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “We had a hard time practicing leading up to the game.”
Arizona forward Stone Gettings (13) gets double teamed after getting the ball at the top of the key against USC in the first half of their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 6, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
Miller said the Wildcats “didn’t play well, we didn’t play smart and I really feel like we struggled throughout the game.” That was evidenced by the fact that UA hit just 5 of 22 3-pointers, taking some shots too quickly and unwisely for Miller’s standards, and by the fact that USC shot an even 50% for the game.
But the Wildcats didn’t revert all the way back to that harrowing 66-65 loss at ASU, thanks in part to Josh Green’s slump-busting 18 points, Zeke Nnaji’s double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, a big advantage in the takeaway game and tons of free throws.
Arizona basically won the game at the line despite a poor percentage effort there. The Wildcats took 40 trips to the line and hit 28 of them, but USC took just 24 and hit 18, giving UA 10 extra points off free throws.
Sean Miller on Arizona nearly allowing USC to overcome a 20-point deficit: “We didn’t play well tonight.”Miller also added Josh Green’s 18-point performance “saved” Arizona. pic.twitter.com/mTd64YEZmW
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) February 7, 2020
Arizona's free throws helped it hang on despite failing to make a single field goal over the final 8:20 of the game, and making just one of their last nine field goals overall. Arizona also made just 5 of 22 3-pointers.
Nico Mannion was a microcosm of this phenomenon, taking a season-high 18 trips to the line but making just 12 free throws – while missing 2 of 6 he took over the final two minutes, when the Trojans kept cutting the Wildcats’ lead down.
“It was a physical game so I think the fouls they called just happened because it was so physical,” Mannion said. “I think we’ve just got to work on it more as a team. I know I definitely have to work on it more myself. They all felt good, but some just didn’t fall.”
Mannion wound up leading Arizona in scoring with 20 points along with seven assists. Zeke Nnaji added 18 points and 11 rebounds while Josh Green had 18 points and four rebounds, the last one a critical, high-lunging defensive rebound of a missed 3 by Mathews with 13 seconds left.
Green's overall scoring broke him out of a recent shooting slump. Green had shot just 23% over his past three games and hit only 1 of his last eight 3-pointers entering Thursday, but hit 2 of 3 3s in the first half against the Trojans.
In the second half, Green missed all three 3s he took but often did what he does best – taking a turnover or a pass and racing to the bucket for a slam or layup. He finished hitting 6 of 11 shots.
Miller said he was happy to see Green play well especially since he has done things “the right way,” but it was also therapeutic for his teammates to see Green play well.
Arizona guard Nico Mannion (1) picks up a charge on his way to the basket over USC guard Kyle Sturdivant (1) during the second half in their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 6, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
“He was flying around tonight, had great energy,” Mannion said. “I think he had a couple of steals and he was getting out transition and that's I think where he's best. He hit a couple 3s to start us off. He was just he was a great energizer for us.”
In the first half, Green had 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 2-of-3 3s to lead Arizona to a 43-33 halftime lead. Green had shot just 23% over his past three games and hit only 1 of his last eight 3-pointers entering Thursday, but hit 2 of 3 3s in the first half against the Trojans.
With Miller having preached beforehand how important rebounding would be against the Trojans, Arizona took early leads of 12-9 and 20-14 by beating USC often on the glass. Over the first 10 minutes of the game, UA had four offensive rebounds on its first 10 missed shots, and were outrebounding USC overall 12-5 to that point.
USC coach Andy Enfield did not start Rakocevic nor Mathews – two guys who played key roles down the stretch --- because of unspecified team rules.
“We expect them to buy into what we're doing as a program,” USC coach Andy Enfield said.
Both players entered after the first media timeout but they were a limited factor at first while Arizona went on an 11-3 run over the middle of the first half to take a 25-14 lead by the time Mannion hit a 3-pointer with 8:20 to go.
UA then went ahead 29-18 after Green hit a 3 and Stone Gettings made a free throw and later took a 10-point lead, 39-29, after Mannion hit a pair of free throws with 2:22 left.
Leading 43-33 at halftime, Arizona and USC played each other evenly over the first four minutes of the second half. But UA then went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 61-41 with 13:31 left, getting two inside baskets from Nnaji, a 3 from Mannion and a dunk from Green, off his steal from USC’s Nick Rakocevic.
At that point, Arizona had scored 17 points off eight USC turnovers, finishing with 18 points on 12 USC turnovers while the Wildcats only gave up the ball six times themselves.
Arizona guard Josh Green (0) swings from the rim after polishing off a fast break against USC in the first half in their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 6, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
“We're at our best in transition,” Miller said. “We made some very good plays and we did score 85 so it's not all gloom and doom.”
But there was a lot of that after USC scored 47 points in the second half on 53.3% shooting. The Wildcats took two 20-point leads, the last with 12:55 left on a jumper from Stone Gettings that made it 63-43, but the Trojans gradually chipped away at the lead.
USC cut it to just 68-58 with 8:43 left after Rakocevic scored twice inside, drawing a foul while running into the basket support on his first layup. Teammate Ethan Anderson made the free throw in his place but Rakocevic returned to the game after 29 seconds and quickly scored the second basket.
After Mannion was called for a charge on a driving layup, Rakocevic scored again inside to cut it to 71-62 and he later scored again to cut it to seven points, 73-66 with 4:37 left. At that point, Rakocevic had 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the second half alone.
Two free throws from Onyeka Okongwu and a 12-foot jumper from Utomi pulled the Trojans within 76-70 with 2:46 to go, and neither side breathed easy from there.
Especially Miller, even if he did manage to pick up his 400th career win as a head coach. And even if his Wildcats moved to 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12 while USC dropped to 17-6 overall and 6-4.
It was a win but, the way Miller described things afterward, it hardly felt like a celebration.
“It kind of like that jockey coming down the stretch,” Miller said. “You’ve got to pick and choose but you can only hit it so hard. You have to pick and choose and sometimes the best way to learn is just failing. We've done that a number of times, but we have a very young group. We have a group that has a lot to learn.”
