Wildcats hold on to beat USC at McKale

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (21-5, 9-4) relinquished a 16-point lead at halftime and held on to beat USC 86-78 tonight at McKale Center.

The Wildcats hit on all cylinders in the first half and had plenty of support from the bench. The starters tallied 23 points and the bench added 20 as Arizona rolled to a 46-30 lead at the half. Reserve forward Mark Tollefsen led the Wildcats with 11 points and Dusan Ristic added seven.  Gabe York scored nine points -- included two long-range three-pointers.

Arizona enjoyed leads up to 19 points in the first half.

In the second half, it was a different story. USC came roaring back and closed the gap to just two points at 70-68 with 6:12 remaining. Allonzo Trier finally stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer at the 4:49 mark to put the Wildcats up, 77-69.

In the end, the Wildcats had enough left in the tank to take down a very good USC team. Arizona withstood a barrage of three-pointers by the Trojans -- 11 in all, nine in the second half.

As for the Wildcats, York finished with 17 points and Trier added 14, while Ryan Anderson chipped in 14 and Tollefsen finished with 13. Ristic finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Parker Jackson-Cartwright scored seven points and dished out five assists, while Kaleb Tarczewski finished with seven points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with nine. Kadeem Allen closed out the scoring for the Wildcats with five points to go along with three assists and three rebounds.

Arizona is now tied with Oregon for first place in the Pac-12.

Way to go, Wildcats!