Cat Tracks: No. 11 UA upended on the road by USC

Sure, you could read the box score and know who won, but we all know that won’t tell you everything that happened in a basketball game. So, we give you ‘Cat Tracks’, providing you with the analysis, quotes and notes from Arizona’s 89-78 loss at Southern California on February 27.

The Good:

On a night when No. 11 UA was outplayed in almost every facet of the game, senior Kevin Parrom made yet another case that he deserves to remain in the starting lineup heading into postseason play. The Arizona forward was aggressive in the paint and from three-point range and finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Former USC recruit Solomon Hill also had a nice night offensively against the Trojans. The UA senior had a team-high 21 points, six assists and five steals.

The Bad:

If the Wildcats had aspirations to be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament before Wednesday night’s contest, they can all but kiss that goodbye at this point.

UA’s bigs (Brandon Ashley, Kaleb Tarczewski and Grant Jarrett) were virtually non-existent at the defensive end. USC forward Eric Wise had a season-high 22 points, Aaron Fuller hit five-of-six shots for 12 points off the bench and the Trojans recorded their highest-scoring regular season output of the 2012-13 season.

In addition to the Wildcats’ defensive woes, Nick Johnson’s abysmal run in Pac-12 play continued. The sophomore guard scored four points (2-of-6 shooting) and has shot 37 percent since January 31.

The Wildcats’ overreliance on the three-point shot also hurt them against Bob Cantu’s squad. UA hit only 7-of-23 from three-point range.

Noted:

• UA fell to 1-4 over its last five games at the Galen Center.

• The win was USC’s first over a ranked opponent since February 2011.

• The Wildcats never cut the deficit within seven over the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Coming Up Next:

The Wildcats will next face UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, March 2. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. MST.