Arizona battled back in the 2nd half to tie the Trojans of Southern California to take it into overtime but even one overtime wasn't enough. The Cats won in dramatic fashion on the second overtime by beating USC 86-84. It was the second time in two games that the Cats have had to claw their way back after being down at home in the first half. This one was a little more dramatic than the UCLA game.
Arizona fell behind 38-33 in the first half and had a hard time controlling Dwight Lewis all day. Kyle Fogg attempted a three point shot with two tenths of a second left in regulation. Fogg got to the line and hit all three free throws to take the game into overtime. The dramatics didn't end there. Each team battled back and forth and one overtime wasn't enough to decide the victor.
The Cats looked a little more in control in the second overtime and were leading by two points when USC's Marcus Simmons hit a bucket to tie the game with 16.3 seconds left. Nic Wise, who scored 15 points on the night, and was playing his last home game at McKale Center, hit the game winning layup with 1.5 seconds left in the double overtime. He drove through traffic and timed his shot perfectly.
What a tremendous way to close out the season. There have been a lot of ups and downs but the Cats have dug deep and battled UCLA and USC the entire time and never thought they were out of either. Kyle Fogg, who had 18 points on the day against USC and 26 points against UCLA, looked like the guy Arizona thought they were going to have all season. He had an incredible weekend in Tucson.
The Cats will travel to Los Angeles next week to begin the Pac-10 tournament. The tournament begins for Arizona on Thursday, March 11 and Arizona is matched up against UCLA at 12:00 pacific time. This is the Cats chance to keep history alive and attempt to get the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament with a Pac-10 Tournament championship.