No. 1-Ranked Arizona Hands USC Its Worst Defeat Ever, 92-48

It seemed that USC was making a decent showing in the first half against Arizona Thursday night at McKale Center.

The Trojans trailed by only 12 points, 39-27, at halftime, hadn’t been blown out, and perhaps, they could make a game of it.

Then, the No. 1-ranked Wildcats dropped the other shoe. They tore the Trojans apart with a blistering 27-2 run in the first 8 minutes 10 seconds of the second half to win handily, 92-48.

The 44-point spread was the largest losing margin in USC’s history. Arizona’s blitz took UCLA out of the school record book. The Bruins had a 37-point winning margin in a 99-62 victory in 1966.

“I’ve been beaten worse than that,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “In my early years at Washington State, UCLA beat us by 52 points.

“We’ll keep working hard. Our day will come.”

It’s not in the foreseeable future, though, as USC dropped to 3-12 overall, 1-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Trojans share last place with Washington, which upset Oregon State Thursday night.

Arizona, with a blend of crisp passing, accurate shooting and unselfish team play, just keeps rolling along. The Wildcats are 17-1 overall and running way from the pack in the conference with a 7-0 record.

After Arizona surged ahead of USC, 66-29, Coach Lute Olson went to his bench, but the reserves just kept pouring it on.

“Down the stretch, to be frank with you, I think we gave up,” Raveling said.

When Raveling was asked if he gave up, he replied, “I never give up. One thing I’m not is a quitter. The American way is not to retreat.”

So how did Raveling’s team unravel in the opening minutes of the second half?

“They ran the ball well, shot well and we couldn’t come back down and offset that at the other end,” Raveling said. “I was disappointed with our rebounding and defensive post play.

“They got at least eight rebounds off of missed foul shots because we didn’t block out. They were far more aggressive on the boards than we were.”

Arizona’s balance was evident when forward Sean Elliott went scoreless in the first half, but the Wildcats were still in control of the game.

Elliott, who came into the game averaging 19.2 points, was prominent in the 27-2 run, though, and finished with 11 points.

He is suffering from the flu, so his teammates picked up the slack, notably center Tom Tolbert and forward Anthony Cook. Tolbert got inside the USC defense frequently to score 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Cook, from Van Nuys High School, got 11 rebounds as Arizona outrebounded USC, 32-22.

That wasn’t the only statistic that favored the Wildcats. They shot 58.3%, compared to the Trojans’ 38.8%, and had 10 blocked shots and 10 steals.

A measure of Arizona’s flawless team play was reflected in assists--on 23 of the 35 baskets.

Olson said his team was disjointed in the first half.

“I told our players at halftime that I didn’t feel good about our effort and I’m sure our players didn’t either. I hoped at the end of the game they would feel good about it.

“At the start of the second half, we took them completely out of what they wanted to do offensively. Everything we did was right, and they couldn’t get anything going.”

Arizona is making a habit of routing USC at McKale Center, where a sellout crowd of 13,227 cheered the Wildcats even in garbage time.

The Wildcats routed USC by 34 points, 78-44, last year.

But this is a much better team than last year’s edition that finished second in the Pac-10 behind UCLA.

Steve Kerr, who made 3 of 4 three-point shots Thursday night, wasn’t available last season. He had to red-shirt because of a knee injury. He provides leadership as the playmaking guard.

The Wildcats are also a much more physical team now. They were previously considered soft in comparison to some other teams.

“They have a chance to take it all,” said Raveling, referring to the NCAA championship. “If there is a dominating team in the country, they could be the one. There are no holes in their starting lineup.”

Raveling rationalized the one-sided defeat to a degree when he said he was mindful that the Trojans were playing the No. 1 team in the country.

His players also seemed a bit awed, especially when Arizona picked up the tempo at the outset of the second half.

The devastating run began when Elliott hit a short jump shot, which was matched by Tolbert, who then added two free throws. Cook scored on a fast-break layup and then added a slam before Elliott scored again from outside.

Arizona kept the pressure on, and forward Chris Moore provided USC’s only points in the 27-2 spurt with a reverse layup.

Raveling used all of his 12 players, with center Chris Munk playing more consistently than his teammates. He scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Arizona is making a shambles of the conference, beating Pac-10 teams by an average of 29.9 points a game. USC made its contribution Thursday night.

Asked if he would, perhaps, prefer some closer games just so his team wouldn’t become bored or stale before the NCAA tournament, Olson said: “We can’t pay attention to the scoreboard. We still have to execute. There will be times when we will be tested, and the next one could be here Sunday against UCLA. I was very impressed with UCLA’s win over Arizona State at Tempe.”

When the Bruins read what the Wildcats did to the Trojans, they should be similarly impressed.