Wildcats Roll Over Trojans

USC held Sean Elliott to only 11 points, so Anthony Cook took over for second-ranked Arizona.

Cook, a 6-foot-9 senior from Van Nuys, scored a career-high 31 points as the Wildcats routed the Trojans, 93-70, in a Pacific 10 Conference game, sending USC to its 13th consecutive defeat.

“I knew one of these years I would break the 30-point mark,” Cook said. “Breaking 30, that’s big. It’s so hard to get there.”

Arizona, 19-3 overall and 13-1 in the Pacific-10 Conference, holds a two-game lead over Stanford.

“At halftime we talked about spreading our offense around to get the ball to Cook, especially with Elliott having such a hard time,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said.

“In Sean’s case, he was forcing some things. He made some judgment errors. Sometimes he needed to give it up, cut and move. I am sure he’ll come out Saturday (against UCLA) ready to play.

“They were double- and triple-teaming (Elliott), and the only way to beat that is to move the ball around.”

His strategy worked, as Cook, who scored 15 points in the first half, added another 10 in the first 7:54 of the second half as the Wildcats took command, 58-40.

Cook, who had three dunks during the run, hit 12 of 14 shots and also had 12 rebounds. He could have had more but was only 7 for 12 on free throws.

“We did a horrible job of defending Cook, but we probably helped him a lot in the (NBA) draft,” USC Coach George Raveling said.

Raveling said the Trojans (7-17, 0-12) wanted to make Elliott work for his shots and wear him down.

“I guess we did a decent job on him, but it was academic,” he said.

The Wildcats led by 22 points with 9:05 left, and the closest USC came the rest of the way was 75-60 with 5:23 left on two foul shots by Chris Moore, who scored 21 points. Ronnie Coleman added 19 for the Trojans.

Ken Lofton had 10 points for Arizona.