If there are any knocks against the second-ranked Southern California Trojans, the only logical one could be their inability to win the close games.

After all, they've lost the only close game they played ÷ a 34-31 overtime loss at California. But you could probably blame the lack of tight finishes on Trojans offensive coordinator Norm Chow and his prolific offense.

No. 2 USC (9-1, 5-1 Pacific 10 Conference) had its best game of the season offensively in Saturday's 45-0 rout over Arizona (2-9, 1-6). The Trojans set new season highs in total yards (587), passing yards (367), first downs (32) and offensive plays (85), and set a host of new USC school records. [Read article]

Coming into Saturday's matchup with the Wildcats, Southern California was ranked No. 2 in both polls and was in the same spot in the Bowl Championship Series rankings.

After Saturday's contest, the Trojans made believers out of Arizona.

The Wildcats (2-9, 1-6 Pacific 10 Conference) were shut out for the first time since 1991 in a 45-0 pummeling at the hands of USC (9-1, 5-1) in front of 39,201 people at Arizona Stadium. [Read article]

Opening night may be a little over a week away, but the UA men's basketball squad has taken steps to ensure the quality of its roster for the years to come.

Arizona inked its third player since the opening of the early signing period on Wednesday, Mohamed Tanagra, to a national letter-of-intent, head coach Lute Olson announced Saturday.

Tangara will join the Wildcats starting in the 2004-05 season. At 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, the native of Mali, Africa will add much-needed height for the Wildcats in the paint. [Read article]

It may not have been as pretty as its 3-0 win against the Ducks, but the Wildcat volleyball team earned a sweep of the Oregon schools and moved two wins away from finishing the season with a record above the .500 mark.

Arizona (14-13, 8-8 Pacific 10 Conference) dispatched Oregon State (15-13, 5-11), 3-1, rallying to win the last three games, 30-24, 30-19, 30-25, after losing the first game, 29-31. The win moved the Wildcats over .500 for the first time since Sept. 19. [Read article]

Normally, getting swept at home would be a mighty disappointing result for Arizona.

But the Icecats nearly pulled an upset in a "heartening performance."

Although No. 11 UA (5-3-1) lost both weekend games to No. 6 Weber State (13-7-1), 6-2 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday, Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski wasn't down about it.

"We're really happy with tonight's performance all in all," Golembiewski said. "We thought that the preparation we did was good." [Read article]

Wildcat men 3rd, women 8th at NCAA regionals

PORTLAND, Ore. ÷ The UA men's cross country team placed third in the overall team standings and the UA women's team finished eighth during Saturday's NCAA West Region Championships at Blue Lake Park. Stanford swept the team and individual titles.

The men's squad was paced by freshman Robert Cheseret's third-place finish. Cheseret covered the 10,000-meter course in 29:35, three seconds off of the pace set by winner Ian Dobson of Stanford. Cheseret's third-place finish broke up a sweep of the top five spots by Stanford, as the Cardinal's top five runners finished 1-2-4-5-6. [Read article]