Arizona's Lamont Jones and Derrick Williams follow Williams' pass while blocking USC's Alex Stepheson and Marcus Simmons (center) between them
By Tony Solorzano
(Los Angeles) – Derrick Williams and Perry Hill combined to lead the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats into the Finals of the Pacific Life PAC-10 Basketball Tournament with a 67-62 victory over the USC Trojans at Staples Center Friday night.
The Trojans were already reeling from the news that head coach Kevin O’Neill had been suspended for the remainder of the tournament for an incident the night before involving an Arizona booster. In his place, Associate head coach Bob Cantu assumed the head coach duties. However, Cantu made it clear to the press after the game where the team stood.
“Kevin O’Neill is not only our head coach but he’s a great friend of mine and he’s a great person,” Cantu said after the game. “It’s unfortunate he wasn’t able to coach today, but I’m really proud of the effort our guys gave.”
The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-4 lead within the first three minutes of the half, but the Trojans tied the game then went ahead on three-pointers from Donte Smith and Marcus Simmons. However, Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne tied up the game again on their three-pointers. Back and forth the score went until the Wildcats went on an 8-3 run to end the half and head into the locker room up 33-28.
In the second, despite points from Simmons and Alex Stepheson, the Wildcats kept pulling away, building as much as a 12-point lead by the midway point of the half. However, the Trojans had one more run in them, going on an 11-4 run towards the end of the game, then closed the gap to four points with 2:15 left in the game. However, Williams scored Arizona’s last six points, neutralizing a late three-pointer from Jio Fontan and a basket in the paint from Nikola Vucevic to give the Wildcats the 67-62 win.
“We beat an excellent team tonight. We weren’t favored and there was a reason,” said Arizona head coach Sean Miller. “USC’s a team that doesn’t go down easily and they didn’t tonight.”
Simmons led the Trojans with 20 points, while Vucevic claimed a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Williams powered the ‘Cats with 20 of his own while Jesse Perry contributed 11.
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