Arizona bags ninth Pac-12 title
Published Mar 11, 2018 07:30 am

Arizona's Deandre Ayton (13). (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)LAS VEGAS — Deandre Ayton dribbled through the sea of red-and-white confetti, bobbing and weaving past cheerleaders and fans. The Arizona big man came upon a security guard, dropped a spin move that left both smiling and headed to the locker room.
Ayton's night at the Pac-12 championship was just as smooth a ride.
Ayton had 32 points and 18 rebounds in one of the most dominating performances in Pac-12 Tournament history, leading No. 15 Arizona to its second straight title with a 75-61 victory over Southern California on Saturday night.
"The dominance he just put forth, if there's another player better, I'd like to meet him," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "He put his team on his back, played the right way and absolutely was a one-man wrecking crew."
Ayton put on a show along The Strip, bouncing back from a nervous Pac-12 opener against Colorado with two dominating games.
The Bahamian big man had 32 points and 14 rebounds in a semifinal win over UCLA and knocked the Trojans (23-11) around like bowling pins in the championship game. Ayton made 14 of 20 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws to lead Arizona (27-8) to its ninth Pac-12 title.
"I was a little starstruck, I wasn't ready, rushing all of my shots against Colorado, not taking my time," said Ayton, who matched the Pac-12 freshman record set by UCLA's Kevin Love with his 23rd double-double. "Coach told me to face up, see what the defense is giving me and that's what I did."
USC gave Arizona trouble with its zone at times and had a decent offensive night. The Trojans just had no answer for Ayton.
"I don't think you're going to stop a guy like that, so we just have to try to do our best to contain him," said Nick Rakocevic, led USC with 13 points. "Although he went off tonight. (
The Associated Press)