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The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews all of the game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of Arizona's showdown with USC in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Game info
Who: Fifth-seeded Arizona Wildcats vs. fourth-seeded USC Trojans
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
When: 2:30 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook
Pregame Wildcast Podcast
Probable starters: Arizona
G Nico Mannion (6-3 freshman)
G Dylan Smith (6-5 senior)
F Josh Green (6-6 freshman)
F Stone Gettings (6-9 senior)
C Zeke Nnaji (6-11 freshman)
Probable starters: USC
G Ethan Anderson (6-1 freshman)
G Jonah Mathews (6-3 senior)
F Daniel Utomi (6-6 senior)
F Onyeka Okongwu (6-9 freshman)
C Nick Rakocevic (6-11 senior)
How they match up
USC forward Onyeka Okongwu (21), left, and forward Nick Rakocevic (31) converge and foul Arizona guard Josh Green (0) on his run to the basket in the second half of their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 6, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
How they got here: USC went 11-7 to finish in a third-place tie with ASU but dropped to the No. 4 seed because the Sun Devils had a win against first-place Oregon (ASU and USC split their two head-to-head games). Arizona finished in a tie for fifth place with Colorado at 10-8 but earned the No. 5 seed because it beat the Buffs and then beat No. 12 Washington 77-70 in a first-place game Wednesday.
The season series: Arizona and USC split their two regular-season games, each winning on its home court.
At McKale Center on Feb. 6, Arizona took two 20-point leads in the second half but USC cut it down all the way to three in the final minute before the Wildcats held on for an 85-80 win over the Trojans on Feb. 6 at McKale Center. The UA hit just 5 of 22 3-pointers while allowing USC to shoot 50% overall from the field, but the Wildcats ultimately won it at by taking 40 trips to the free throw line, making 28 of their free throws, scoring 10 more than USC made at the line (the Trojans were 18 for 24).
At Los Angeles’ Galen Center on Feb. 27, Arizona shot just 28.1% overall and 11.1% (3 for 26) from 3-point range in a 57-48 loss to the Trojans. The Wildcats were without freshman wing Josh Green, who missed the Los Angeles trip with a sore lower back and guard Max Hazzard, who missed the first of what has been four games out of the lineup for unspecified reasons. USC’s Onyeka Okongwu had 11 points and 10 rebounds while hitting a 72-foot bomb just before the halftime buzzer.
What’s new with the Trojans: USC finished the regular season on a roll, also beating ASU and UCLA at home to finish out the regular season, beating the Bruins 54-52 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Jonah Mathews. The Trojan senior guard was 5 of 9 from 3-point range overall, leading all scorers with 19. He has averaged 15.0 points over his last 16 games, counting a nine-point effort at Utah when he threw up during the game because of a virus. On Monday, Mathews was named to the all-Pac-12 second team and the all-defensive team, while Okongwu made the 10-player first team.
Pac-12 Tournament history: The Wildcats and Trojans will be meeting for the third straight season in the Pac-12 Tournament, with Arizona having beaten USC 75-61 in 2018 behind 32 points and 18 rebounds from Deandre Ayton but USC sending the Wildcats home last season with a 78-65 loss in the first round. Arizona is 3-1 overall against the Trojans in the conference tournament since it was revived in 2002 and 2-1 in the Sean Miller era, also having beaten USC in the 2011 event.
Series history: USC has won three of the last four games against Arizona, winning in Los Angeles and Las Vegas last summer, but the Wildcats lead the alltime series 69-45.
He said it
Arizona head coach Sean Miller calls his players to the sideline after calling a timeout late in the second half against USC in their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 6, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
“We’re excited to advance and have a chance to play USC. They’re also a very good team. It’s one of the exciting parts of this year’s tournament. It’s always a great tournament but the quality from top to bottom has never been better.”
— UA coach Sean Miller
Sidelines
A “unique mix”
Arizona coach Sean Miller, second from right, and the Wildcats probably clinched an NCAA Tournament berth with their 77-70 win over Washington on March 11.
The fact that Arizona’s three leading scorers are all freshmen is something that could be put under an additional spotlight this postseason, if Wednesday’s postgame press conference was any indication.
The Wildcats had 44 points combined from freshmen Zeke Nnaji, Nico Mannion and Josh Green, which is hardly news, but UA coach Sean Miller was asked about their performances in light of it being a bigger stage at the Pac-12 Tournament.
“We have a really unique mix, our team,” Miller said. “We have Dylan (Smith, at the podium) up here who’s in his last go-round, in his fourth year, he’s clearly the old man of the group. But to these other guys credit and I think Dylan would also echo what I’m about to say is, I don’t think we’ve ever had a group of three freshmen that we’ve been so dependent on every game.
“We’ve had some really talented freshmen but as they grew and learned the game, there were times when they didn’t play well, yet we were still able to win because maybe they were surrounded by more guys like Dylan. On this year’s team… they have to play well for us to win, and to their credit they show up every day. “
Sad goodbye
Washington's Isaiah Stewart (33) grabs a rebound over Arizona's Nico Mannion, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the Pac-12 men's tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Asked about the (very likely) possibility that he just coached freshman center Isaiah Stewart for the last time Wednesday, Washington coach Mike Hopkins choked up, the finality of the Huskies’ season having apparently hitting him hard.
“I don’t like to think about that,” Hopkins said. “You’ll have a time and place to talk about those things but this isn’t the time. But you love your team. The thing that I love more about coaching was how this team handled their adversity and kept getting better. We played our best basketball at the end of the year and that shows the character of the players.
“That’s the hardest thing about coaching in college is they’re always flipping. But I’ve never been around a kid like this and I’m just honored to have the 12 months that I’ve had.”
Then Hopkins went back into a little bit of “Hop” mode, smiling when he offered this:
“We’ll be buying tickets to go watch him play,” Hopkins said, then pausing as he turned toward Stewart. “Well, you better give me tickets.”
Just in time
In the first game played Wednesday, Oregon State was able to keep its last season-momentum going.
Like Washington, OSU has played under expectations this season but finished the regular season on a high note, sweeping Stanford and California at home, and then it managed to extend its season by knocking off Utah 71-69 with a pair of late 3-pointers from freshman Jerod Lucas.
“We’ve got some momentum,” said coach Wayne Tinkle. We’re playing our best basketball.”
Numbers game
3
Minutes played by Ira Lee against Washington on Wednesday.
4
Games Max Hazzard has missed for what UA has termed “personal” reasons.
5
USC wins in its last seven games.
