The USC Trojans were hammered by Arizona on Thursday in Tucson. To be honest, when Arizona got pounded by Oregon last Saturday, the Trojans’ chances of winning in the Old Pueblo went way down. It was highly unlikely Arizona would play terribly two straight games. It was also very unlikely Arizona would play poorly at home after a recent slump in which it lost to Washington State by 13 in the McKale Center. Arizona was bound to play better. It did. USC had no shot.
The game the Trojans realistically can win in the state of Arizona this week is the game which is next for them on Saturday evening in Tempe.
Arizona State is a good team. It has lost only four times this season. Coach Bobby Hurley has gotten his Sun Devils to play strong, consistent defense. Arizona State has been a comeback artist, erasing a 15-point deficit to win on the road at Colorado and coming from 16 points down to win at Oregon State one week ago.
However, ASU ran into the ultimate comeback king in the Pac-12, the UCLA Bruins, on Thursday. UCLA trailed late in the second half against Washington State on December 30 and won. It trailed late against USC and won. It trailed by nine points midway through the second half last Saturday against Colorado and won. UCLA and ASU were both very good at making comebacks in the first half of January.
Thursday night, the Bruins had the answers down the stretch. They trailed 55-50 with 9:20 left and then allowed just seven points the rest of the way, en route to a 74-62 win over the Sun Devils.
USC fans don’t enjoy seeing UCLA succeed, but in truth, the outcome isn’t a bad one for the Trojans. They would like to be the non-Arizona Pac-12 team which beats UCLA first. ASU is now 0-2 against Arizona and UCLA. If the Trojans can beat Arizona State on Saturday, they would make up some (not all) ground on the Sun Devils in the attempt to become the third NCAA Tournament team from the Pac-12, with UCLA and Arizona being the two obvious locks from the conference. If the Trojans finish with a better resume than Arizona State, their odds of making the NCAA Tournament would go way up.
It’s time for the Trojans to make a statement. We’ll see if they can speak forcefully against Bobby Hurley on Saturday in Tempe.
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