Arizona repeats as Pac-12 champion behind dominant Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton did it all offensively, but it was his momentum-changing pass to Rawle Alkins that gave Arizona its second straight Pac-12 men’s tournament title Saturday night.
With two Southern California defenders surrounding the 7-foot-1-inch freshman star, Ayton found a running Alkins, who then emphatically dunked the ball over USC’s Elijah Stewart.
Alkins flexed his muscles and stepped over the USC defender as the pro-Arizona crowd at T-Mobile Arena went into a frenzy. The No. 1-seeded Wildcats fed off the energy and defeated the second-seeded Trojans 75-61 to clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Ayton put on a show for the announced crowd of 16,501, tying a career high with 32 points and 18 rebounds. Ayton, who also had 32 points in the semifinals, showed off all the tools in his arsenal with putbacks, alley-oop dunks and a midrange jumper that probably will make him the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft.
Ayton was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Chimezie Metu, a projected NBA first-round pick, had a slow start in his marquee matchup against Ayton. The USC junior forward had two points and one rebound in the first half. He finished with seven points and four rebounds.
Ayton had a near double-double in the first half with 13 points and eight rebounds. The Trojans led 33-30 at halftime.
It was a sloppy start for the Wildcats, who had nine turnovers in the first half, eight coming off USC steals.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said he had no problem with Arizona and USC meeting in the championship game, two programs linked to the FBI’s investigation into potential bribery and corruption in college basketball. Metu and Ayton were mentioned in reports about the investigation.
“I know both the schools are, at the highest levels on the university, treating the allegations very, very seriously,” Scott said Thursday during a news conference. “There is no question in my mind that the leadership at the university is taking these issues very seriously and trying to take the appropriate steps with the information they have at the moment.”
Arizona had home-court advantage on a neutral site with T-Mobile Arena covered in red and “U of A” chants breaking out in keys moments of the Wildcats’ three games.
“Our fans, they’re the best,”Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “One of the best in the country. On the road, we hear ‘U of A’ chants quite a bit, and no question, this tournament has become a destination spot for a lot of them. It’s a fun place to come and to watch basketball.”
Attendance numbers were down for the conference’s second tournament at T-Mobile Arena. The semifinal session had an announced attendance of 16,596. Last year’s tournament drew 19,224 for the semifinals, the highest ever for a Pac-12 tournament session.
The Pac-12 had many teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering the week. UCLA and Oregon boosted its resumes by advancing to the semifinals. Arizona State, Utah and Washington could be left out after early exits in Las Vegas.
But one conference team won’t have to stress out Selection Sunday: Arizona, the back-to-back Pac-12 tournament champion.
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.