USC men's basketball flattened by No. 11 Arizona on the road 81-66
USC's struggles on the road against ranked opponents continued on Thursday night.
No. 11 Arizona (16-3, 5-3 in Pac-12) led wire to wire against USC (13-6, 5-3) from the McKale Center in Tucson winning 81-66. The defeat snapped the Trojans' two-game winning streak in the Pac-12.
USC has never beaten a ranked team on the road in the Andy Enfield era, which began ten seasons ago in 2013.
Arizona's Courtney Ramey led all scorers with 16 points. He made five of the Wildcats' 12 three-pointers. Arizona big man Azuolas Tubelis added 15 points and had a career-high 17 rebounds. Pelle Larsson also scored 15 points for the Wildcats.
For USC, Drew Peterson led the Trojans with 15 points, but fouled out with 5:58 left in the second half. Boogie Ellis was the only other USC player to end the game in double figures. He scored 11 points on 2 of 11 shooting.
USC trimmed Arizona's lead to nine points early in the second half, but trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
VINCENT IWUCHUKWU SCORES FIRST POINTS
USC true freshman center Vincent Iwuchukwu made his first appearance as a Trojan in USC's 68-61 win over Colorado on Jan. 12 after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest during a workout in July. He played in his third game against Arizona and scored his first collegiate points with a first-half hook shot.
Iwuchukwu, the No. 25 ranked recruit nationally in the 2022 class, finished with four points, one block, one rebound and one steal.
USC will look to bounce back on Saturday night on the road against Arizona State. The game tips off at 7:00 pm.
