USC finishes regular season with Arizona sweep, earns No. 2 seed in Pac-12 Tournament
The USC Trojans will head into this week’s Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 2 seed, having won nine of the last 10 games of the regular season.
A 70-55 road win in Tempe over Arizona State gave the Trojans their 13th conference win this season — the most conference wins for USC in Pac-12 play. The 23-5 overall record marks the most successful regular season for the Trojans in 30 years.
Star freshman JuJu Watkins didn’t get to 30 points in this one, but still finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a steal. Forward Rayah Marshall also recorded a double-double, finishing with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Watkins led the Trojans in scoring in 25 of the team’s 28 games this season.
No other Trojan scored more than six points, but USC matched a season-high in getting points from 10 different players. USC grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in this one, dominating Arizona State 21-0 on second-chance points. And the Trojans were overwhelming inside, outscoring the Sun Devils 42-22 in the paint. USC never trailed in the game.
Game Notes from USC Athletics
* This was the Trojans’ first road sweep of the Arizona schools since 2012-13.
* With 23 wins, USC has recorded its most regular-season victories since 1993-94.
* USC is now 20-1 overall when scoring over 65 points and 17-1 when outrebounding its opponent.
* Now with 751 points this season, Watkins ranks No. 3 all-time in single-season scoring for the Trojans.
Up Next for the Trojans
USC earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament. It’s the best seed the Trojans have ever received. USC got the No. 2 seed over UCLA despite identical conference records due to the Trojans’ 1-0 record against No. 1 seed Stanford, compared to UCLA’s 0-1 mark.
USC earns a first-round by as a top-four seed and will play the winner of the No. 7 Arizona vs No. 10 Washington matchup on Thursday at 6 pm. USC was 2-0 against Arizona this season, including a double-overtime win a few days ago in Tucson. The Trojans were 0-1 against Washington, dropping a disappointing late January home game to the Huskies, 62-59.
If both the Trojans and Bruins can win their first games, the crosstown rivals would face off in the semifinals on Friday, March 8. UCLA could get Utah in that first game, a team that beat USC twice this season.
