LAS VEGAS β Despite a season of off-court drama, the Arizona Wildcats finished exactly where they were supposed to in the Pac-12.
That is, by dominating it. Arizona won the regular-season title by two games a week ago and on Saturday won the Pac-12 Tournament title by turning a close game with USC into a 75-61 romp on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
Deandre Ayton led the Wildcats with 32 points and 17 rebounds, earning tournament MVP honors while breaking the UA season double-double record of 22. Dusan Ristic, also named to the all-tournament team, added 16 points and five rebounds.
Ayton became the first player in Pac-12 history to win the conference's Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 Tournament MVP in the same season.
The win was Arizonaβs second straight Pac-12 Tournament championship and third in the past four seasons, moving the Wildcats to 27-7 overall heading into Selection Sunday. Arizona is expected to receive a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the West Region and play a first-round game in San Diego on Friday.
USC dropped to 23-11 and is sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Before Saturday's games, ESPN projected USC as a No. 10 seed but CBSβ forecast had the Trojans as one of the first four teams out of the field.
Trailing by three points at halftime, Arizona quickly took a 35-33 lead with a rebound basket from Ayton and a 3-pointer from Rawle Alkins β and then the game was tied three more times before Arizona wildly changed the momentum with a 13-3 run over six minutes midway through the second half.
Ristic started the run with a rebound basket while Parker Jackson-Cartwright hit a 3-pointer from the corner. USCβs Jordan Usher answered that one with a 3 of his own but then Alkins drove the lane to throw down a demonstrative slam over the defense of USC guard Elijah Stewart and Ayton followed up with a dunk to give UA a 53-46 lead.
Ayton went on to score twice more during the run, giving UA a 59-49 lead with 5:46 to go.
A 3-pointer from Jordan McLaughlin helped USC pull within six points with four minutes left but Arizona finished the game with a 14-6 run to cut down nets for a second straight week.
In the first half, Arizona allowed USC to shoot 50 percent for the first half, with Trojan center Nick Rakocevic doing particular damage inside, while USC took a 33-30 halftime lead.Β
Rakocevic had 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including a layup with three seconds left in the first half, keeping up with Arizona's Deandre Ayton and his 13 points in the first half -- but Rakocevic did not score in the second half.
Overall, the first half between top-seeded Arizona and No. 2 seed USC was befitting of their 1-2 finish in the Pac-12 during the regular season. USC's three-point halftime lead came after seven lead changes and four ties.
Arizona shot 44.8 percent from the field and outrebounded the Trojans 20-11Β but UA committed nine turnovers that led to seven USC points. USC shot 50 percent from the field but hit just 1 of 6 3-pointers.
Ayton led UA in the half with 13 points and eight rebounds, on pace to break the alltime school record for double doubles in a season of 22. Dusan Ristic had eight points and three rebounds.
Alkins had five rebounds for UA but missed both shots he took and turned the ball over three times.
For USC, Jonah Mathews added 11 points while McLaughlin had six assists to no turnovers.
Jackson-Cartwright hit a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game to give UA a 3-0 lead but the leading margin for either team never exceeded four points in the first half.
Joining Ayton and Ristic on the Pac-12's all-tournament team were UCLA's Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh, along with USC's Mathews and McLaughlin.
