The Trojans are used to playing shorthanded. But they’re not exactly used to playing without their head coach.
With USC head coach Kevin O’Neill suspended by the University following an altercation at a bar Thursday night, he Arizona Wilcats (27-6) defeated the Trojans (19-14) 67-62 in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Conference Tournament.
Bob Cantu filled in as acting coach, and nearly coached the team to their second upset of the year over the No. 16 team in the nation.
Assistant coach Bob Cantu, Arizona coach Sean Miller, and a handful of USC players wrap up USC's loss to Arizona and their postseason chances. (Alex Wilk)
Per usual, the Trojans played with a six man rotation for the whole game, and the lack of depth showed.
Nikola Vucevic played the entire game for the Trojans and finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds as well as five assists. Marcus Simmons, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, played 32 minutes and scored 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting.
The Wildcats were led by Derrick Williams with 20 points and Jesse Perry with 11. While outshot by the Trojans 49 per-cent to 44 per-cent, the Wildcats knocked down eight of 19 three-pointers to make the difference in the game.
“We gave up way too many open threes,” said Vucevic after the game. “But they’re the best team in our conference and they showed it tonight.”
With USC being a quintessential “bubble team” for the NCAA tournament, it was Arizona head coach Sean Miller who first started campaigning for a spot in the 68-team Tourney for the Trojans.
Alex Stepheson and Jio Fontan talk about how they heard about Kevin O’Neill’s suspension and the impact on the team. (Alex Wilk)
“We respect USC a whole lot,” Miller said. “They play hard the whole game and if you look especially the second half of their season I think they deserve to be in.”
Acting coach Cantu went where coach O’Neill would not, saying he firmly believes USC belong in the NCAA tournament.
“We have got some great wins,” said Cantu. “Everybody’s saying we’ve got bad losses. I personally think that great wins mean more than the bad losses do when you look at the big picture. I really feel that we can compete in the NCAA tournament.”
The Wildcats led by as many as 12 with about 11 minutes to go, but USC pulled it back to a three point game with just three to play, and found themselves down by the same score after Jio Fontan nailed a three with 48 ticks to go. But Arizona was true on their free-throws down the stretch and held on for the win.
Arizona will face the winner of the Oregon-Washington game in the Pac-10 final for the right to win a guaranteed NCAA tournament berth. It is Arizona’s seventh trip to the Pac-10 championship.
