Wildcats exact revenge on USC

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona freshman guard Mike Bibby hustles after a loose ball during the Wildcats' 101-74 destruction of Southern Cal on Saturday at McKale Center. It was a victory that UA was in desperate need of after losing to UCLA, 66-64 at home on Thursday night.

"This was a game that we really needed," UA junior guard Miles Simon said. "I wouldn't say that it was a must-win game for our season, but it definitely gives (us) a chance to stay in the conference race."

The 11th-ranked Wildcats (16-6 overall, 8-4 in Pacific 10 Conference) used a balanced offensive attack to rebound from Thursday's 66-64 loss to UCLA.

The Wildcats had four players score in double figures, highlighted by 23 points from junior forward Michael Dickerson.

Arizona started slow and did not hit a field goal for the first five minutes. Following a Simon three-point play to cut the USC lead to just one, the Wildcats inserted sophomore guard Jason Terry into the lineup, providing an immediate lift for the offense. After just one minute of play, Terry had forced a turnover and scored five points to give Arizona a 15-11 lead with 13 minutes remaining.

"The UCLA game took a lot out of us and we just needed a little jump-start to get going," Terry said. "I just wanted to come in and give the team that little boost. But, it was just a matter of time before we really put it on them."

While the Trojans used two clutch three-pointers by senior guard Stais Boseman to pull to 20-18 with ten minutes remaining, the combination of Dickerson and freshman guard Mike Bibby proved to be too much. The duo combined for 15 points in the next five minutes to extend Arizona's lead to 37-28 with under five minutes until halftime.

At that point, USC tried to slow down the Wildcat offense by switching to a zone defense, but after three straight three-pointers by Terry and Dickerson a discouraged Trojan team entered the locker-room down 51-36 at the half.

"They did a good job of playing within their offensive scheme," USC head coach Henry Bibby said. "We tried to knock them out of their rhythm, but Terry and Dickerson hit some tough shots."

USC came out in the second half with a barrage of outside shots by Boseman and sophomore guard Elias Ayuso, closing the gap to 59-50 with 15:10 remaining. It was then, however, that the Trojan lineup began to wear down and succumb to Arizona's press.

USC had two straight turnovers, including a five-second in-bounds violation and a Dickerson steal that Arizona capitalized on, boosting the lead to 66-52. After that the Wildcats never let the Trojans close within 10 points and the frustration for USC began to set in. The Trojans committed two technical fouls in three minutes and made the game resemble a Sunday contest on the grid-iron.

"The second half out there was a lot like a football game," UA freshman forward Eugene Edgerson said. "It was real physical and had a lot of banging on the inside. It was my type of half."

Two minutes later, Bibby put the final nail in the coffin when he connected on a long three-pointer to make the score 86-69.

"It was a good game for us," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "We have a lot of positives to take out (of) this weekend, even though we lost on Thursday night. I don't think you will ever see us force 54 turnovers and 34 steals in a weekend like we did."

The Wildcats received top performances from Bibby and Terry. Arizona's back-court duo combined for 34 points, six assists and only one turnover.

"It was good to see the balance we had tonight," Simon said. "We need that if we are going to be a successful team."

With the Wildcats one game behind UCLA in the Pac-10 standings, Arizona will be now pulling for the Trojans when they square off with the Bruins this Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.

"This was a good USC team that we beat tonight. I still think they are a better team than UCLA," Olson said. "I think everybody but the UCLA people will be a USC fan for Thursday night's game."