San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TROJANS BEATEN AT THEIR OWN GAME
As USC won 13 of 14 games in the new year, surging into first place in the Pac-12 and securing its best start in nearly half a century, the Trojans staked their claim on their physical presence. No one had outrebounded them since December. Few had outmuscled them all season. Their defense was among the nation's best.
But on Saturday afternoon, someone finally beat them at their own game. No. 17 USC was outworked in the paint and outplayed on the perimeter and outhustled at both ends, as its seven-game win streak was snapped by visiting Arizona, 81-72, at Galen Center.
The tone was set early on as the Trojans' star 7-footer, Evan Mobley, failed to get off a shot over the first 15 minutes of the game. The freshman would make up for that slow start with a scoring spree to start the second half. But his 23 points weren't enough for USC to make up for an otherwise uneven effort on both ends.
Tahj Eaddy added 17 points, continuing his hot streak. It was the rest of USC'S offense that struggled to get anything going. Outside of Mobley and Eaddy, the Trojans (18-4, 12-3 Pac-12) made 12 of 35 shots.
“I don't think entirely we played soft, but in certain possessions we weren't as tough as we could have been, especially to start the game,” Eaddy said.
James Akinjo scored 20 points, Jordan Brown had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Azuolas Tubelis added 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Wildcats, who gave coach Sean Miller his 300th victory in program history while avoiding their first three-game skid of the season.
Washington State 85, Stanford 76 (3 OT): Noah Williams scored a careerhigh 40 points and the Cougars (14-10, 7-10) blanked the Cardinal (14-9, 10-7) in the final overtime. Williams made 12 of 35 shots, including 8 of 18 from the arc, and 8 of 10 free throws with nine turnovers. His 40 points were the most for WSU since Klay Thompson scored 43 in 2011. The sophomore's father, Guy Williams, scored what was then a Wsu-record 43 points in 1983. The record is 45 by Brian Quinnett in 1986.
UCLA 80, Arizona State 79: Jaylen Clark made his second free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining and UCLA rallied for a victory over visiting Arizona State (711, 4-8 Pac-12) to give coach Mick Cronin his 400th career win. The Bruins win ties them with USC atop the Pac-12. Both are 12-3 in league play. Cody Riley led UCLA (16-5) with 17 points.
Oregon 67, Utah 64: Chris Duarte scored 15 points, including three free throws in the final 80 seconds to break a 64-64 tie, as the Ducks (14-4, 9-3) beat the visiting Utes (910, 6-9).
Colorado 61, Oregon State 57: Mckinley Wright IV scored 21 points and moved to No. 7 on Colorado's career scoring list as the Buffaloes (17-7, 11-6) beat the host Beavers (11-11, 7-9).
Washington 62, Cal 51: Quade Green scored 17 points, Jamal Bey added 10 of his 15 in the second half, and Washington (5-17, 4-13) held off California (8-17, 3-15) in a matchup of teams at the bottom of the Pac-12.
WCC
BYU 88, LMU 71: Matt Haarms had 21 points as the Cougars (17-5, 8-3) stopped a four-game winning streak by the Lions (11-7, 6-4). Caleb Lohner had 18 points and seven rebounds for BYU.
Santa Clara 86, Pepperdine 82: Josip Vrankic had 26 points as the host Broncos (10-6, 4-4) ended their four-game home losing streak. Colbey Ross had 26 points and six assists for the Waves (10-9, 6-4).
Pacific 80, Portland 58: Pierre Crockrell II scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures and the Tigers (7-7, 4-6) extended the Pilots' (6-14, 0-11) losing streak to 12.