Trojans always seem to get Wildcats' best; could roles be reversed this time?

A big reason Arizona is 3-0 against USC in the Tommy Lloyd era is that Trojan standouts Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson are both shooting under 24% in those games.

But there’s also this: The Trojans keep getting in their way when the Wildcats might be at their angriest.

In 66 games under Lloyd, the Wildcats have never lost twice in a row. And after two of their nine losses, USC was next.

Last season, after Arizona suffered a 16-point loss at Colorado that might have effectively booted them out of the NCAA West Region, the Wildcats went to Los Angeles to play a COVID makeup game against the Trojans.

Arizona won 91-71 and clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title in the process.

This season, five days after the Wildcats were blown out 87-68 at Oregon, USC popped up at McKale Center. Arizona beat the Trojans by 16 points.

And this week, after Arizona lost on a 60-foot buzzer-beater to intrastate rival ASU, the Wildcats are heading to the Galen Center again.

That’s not the sort of timing USC might prefer.

“Every time we have lost, we responded,” guard Pelle Larsson said. “So I guess you could say it’s kind of a get-back mentality.”

When asked about the Wildcats’ ability to bounce back after losses, Lloyd smiled and said “win or lose, I’m the same.” But he also acknowledged somewhat that it might be a little easier to keep his guys focused after a loss.

“Maybe you have their attention a little bit more here and there, but I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Lloyd said. “I mean, it’s a game-to-game approach. It always has been, and it always will be.”

Besides, the Trojans might be better prepared to face the Wildcats than in any of the three previous games. USC won 8 of 10 since losing to UA on Jan. 19 at McKale Center, moving firmly into the range for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

Moreover, there’s always the possibility that Ellis or Peterson revert to the mean and shoot well. And there’s the fact that center Joshua Morgan has morphed into one of the country’s best shot blockers.

Behind Morgan is freshman 7-footer Vincent Iwuchukwu, a five-star recruit who suffered an offseason heart issue and didn’t start playing for the Trojans until a week before they visited McKale Center.

“They’re playing really well,” Lloyd said. “USC has really talented players. Boogie and Drew Peterson are obviously proven stars, Morgan’s developed into a reliable player and they add the extra big guy (Iwuchukwu) now to have another 7-footer.

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“And I think the sneaky thing about them is their role players, the young wings they have, are getting better and gaining confidence. When you look at their top seven, eight, nine guys, it’s pretty formidable.”

Load management

Although center Oumar Ballo took it easy for most of Tuesday’s practice, Lloyd said he expects him to be fine this weekend.

“He’s on a little bit of a pitch count some of these days in practice, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Lloyd said.

Ballo suffered a serious health scare in early January but Lloyd indicated the limits are typical for anybody in Ballo’s situation.

“He’s a really big guy who plays in a hard system, and I’m asking him to do a lot,” Lloyd said. “So you want to make sure on Thursday and Saturday that he’s ready to go.”

Reluctant revisionist

So, should Lloyd have asked Ballo to miss his final free throw last Saturday, potentially making it tougher for ASU’s Desmond Cambridge to hit a 60-foot game-winner?

Lloyd said after Saturday’s game that he would “wear” the responsibility of not doing so after Ballo’s make allowed the Sun Devils to set up an inbound pass to Cambridge, who took the ball off a screen and made one dribble before drilling his 60-foot shot.

Then Lloyd and his staff kept reviewing the play. Lloyd’s stance did not change, but he found one interesting data point across the Atlantic.

“We went through every scenario, I know the scenarios, and there was a team in the Euroleague this past weekend that had the same exact situation,” Lloyd said. “They missed the free throw on purpose. Guy picked up the ball, took one dribble, made the shot and they lost.

“So it happens. If we had to do it again, we would do something different for sure. But you can say that about a lot of things. Revisionist history doesn’t do me much good.”