Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) elbows his way along baseline past USC forward Chevez Goodwin (1) in the first half of their Pac 12 game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., January 7, 2021.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Viewing postgame interviews via Zoom can make it tough to read body language, but Azuolas Tubelis made it easy Thursday night.

His head was nearly slumped over the microphone. After scoring 31 points … in an effort that still couldn’t save Arizona from an 87-73 loss to USC at McKale Center.

β€œI feel more comfortable now but we still lost this game,” the freshman from Lithuania said. β€œSo, I don’t know. Not great feeling right now.”

Not that it was Tubelis’ fault. Previously with a season-high of 13 points set against Eastern Washington, Tubelis had 17 in the first half and another 14 in the second, while spraying dunks, 3-pointers, layups and free throws all over the court.

β€œHe was terrific,” UA coach Sean Miller said.

The problem was that the rest of his teammates shot just 30.4% from the field – with starting guards James Akinjo (0 for 9) and Jemarl Baker (1 for 7) struggling noticeably – while the Wildcats’ defense allowed USC to shoot 58.5% on the other end.

Or, maybe those two things were related, the way Miller put it.

β€œI really thought that our missed shots started to affect us on the defensive side of the ball,” Miller said. β€œIt affected our energy. It affected our cohesiveness.

β€œBasketball is just not a fun sport when you can’t make a shot and I thought we went through long stretches tonight where we had that, and we were playing against a team that was too good on offense for us to be able to overcome that.”

The loss snapped UA’s four-game win streak and dropped the Wildcats to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-12, heading into an ESPN-televised game Saturday with UCLA at McKale Center. The Trojans improved to 7-2 and 2-1, having now beaten Arizona in four of the past five matchups.

Like Arizona, the Trojans have nearly a brand-new team this season but they have a projected high lottery pick in center Evan Mobley, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, plus three highly productive transfers, including one that the Wildcat coaches know a little bit about.

Isaiah White, who punished Arizona with drives and 3-pointers alike, was a grad transfer at Utah Valley last spring who considered the Wildcats before staying near his home to play for USC.

While showed up at McKale on Thursday and scored 22 points with five rebounds, while USC had seven players overall scoring at least seven points, using their unique length and skill to get to the basket and shoot 58.5%, hitting 8 of 14 3s and getting to the basket for many others.

β€œThey were simple in what they did but they were better in their execution than us,” Miller said. β€œYou get the ball in and around the rim to a number of guys on their team and they will deliver. And tonight when they kicked the ball out, when they made one more pass, they drilled 3-pointers.”

Especially, as Miller noted, when USC went ahead for good seven minutes into the second half. UA trailed just 35-34 at halftime thanks largely to Tubelis' heroics and took six brief leads early in the second half.

But after Bennedict Mathurin hit a 3 to give UA a 53-52 lead with 13:28 left, USC took over for good. White scored inside and then the Trojans hit two straight 3s after blocking Arizona shots.

USC’s Chevez Goodwin first blocked a shot from Christian Koloko, allowing USC’s Noah Baumann to get out on the break and hit a 3. Then Evan Mobley blocked Akinjo, and raced down for his own fast-break 3.

By then the score was still only 60-53 but the Wildcats never really recovered. They cut it to no less than four points the rest of the way, and went scoreless over the final two minutes while White dunked and made a layup, launching a rowdy celebration that could be heard well into the McKale Center hallways once the piped music was turned off for the night.

β€œWhen you can’t get a stop, and you can’t get a shot, it’s hard to keep fighting and I don’t think we fought to the end,” Miller said. β€œI really don’t. It just became too hard. We were overwhelmed. And we gave in down the homestretch which is disappointing and clearly something that we will fix.”

One way to start, of course, is to break both Baker and Akinjo out of their slumps. Akinjo was 1 of 6 from 3 on Saturday at Washington State, while Baker was 1 for 14 overall against the Cougars, rolling an ankle during that game that Miller said might still limit him.

Baker is now 2 of 21 over the past two games while he and Akinjo were a combined 1 for 16 on Thursday against the Trojans.

β€œNo question you have to give them credit,” Miller said of USC. β€œTheir length can bother every team but we also had some good looks. We had some good drives. We had some shots around the basket. We had some open opportunities from the perimeter.

β€œIt wasn’t just Jemarl or James. I’m not here to play the blame game. Those guys have been a terrific backcourt for us. We’ve won some games because of how they have been.

"But tonight they just didn’t have it and in a game like USC, you have to be good. We have to be good on offense, we have to take care of the ball and we have to be much, much better on defense.”

USC guard Isaiah White (5) celebrates after getting loose for an uncontested dunk as the Trojans pulled away from Arizona in the second half of their Pac 12 game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., January 7, 2021.

Arizona head coach Sean Miller makes a point to guard Terrell Brown Jr. (31) during a second half huddle in their game against USC at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., January 7, 2021.

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.