Cats Begin Final Homestand of Season With Trojans

TUCSON, Ariz. – Riding a four-game win streak and with 19 wins in their last 20 games, the Arizona Wildcats will play their final games of February this week inside McKale Center. The week begins with the USC Trojans on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. (MST). The two teams last met back on Jan. 19 in Los Angeles as UA earned a 73-66 victory behind 23 points and eight rebounds from Lauri Markkanen.

No. 4/4 Arizona vs. USC
Thursday, February 23 at 8:00 p.m. (MST)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson, Steve Lavin, Lewis Johnson)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Stats: www.arizonalivestats.com
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown

Arizona begins the season's final week of home games, starting with the USC Trojans on Thursday night. UA has won 20 consecutive games in McKale Center and 69 of its last 70 in Tucson. The Wildcats' record of 66-1 at home since the start of the 2013-14 makes them the only program in the nation with fewer than two home losses in the last four seasons. UA's average margin of victory in its 20 consecutive home wins is 16.1 points per game.
The Cats finished their road sweep of the state of Washington with a 76-68 win over the Huskies on Saturday. Lauri Markkanen scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the victory at Washington, giving him his fifth double-double of the season and back-to-back double-doubles for the trip. He was supported by Allonzo Trier and his 21 points. Markkanen and Trier gave Arizona its first game of two 20-point scorers of the season.
McKale Center will reach a landmark in Thursday's game against the Trojans. Total attendance in the building, which opened in 1973, was 8,792,826 entering the 2016-17 season. This season's attendance total of 201,272 means McKale Center will eclipse the nine million mark on Thursday evening.
Lauri Markkanen was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after his big weekend in a pair of wins at the Washington schools. Markkanen averaged 22.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 92.3 percent from the foul line. The freshman's two-point field goal percentage was 62.5 percent for the week as well. He was also the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week in January following his team's road sweep of the Los Angeles schools. Markkanen becomes the first Wildcat to win multiple conference player of the week honors since Stanley Johnson in the 2014-15 season.
UA opened the week ranked fourth in the Associated Press Top 25, which marked the program's highest national ranking since the AP's Dec. 22, 2014 poll that ranked Arizona third in the nation.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright has regained his three-point accuracy that saw the point guard lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage in Pac-12 games at 48.6 percent a year ago. After shooting 5 of 29 (.172) from deep in his first 13 games this season, the junior is 12 of 19 (.632) from beyond the arc in his last nine appearances.
With 25 victories already earned this season, Arizona head coach Sean Miller has now won 25 or more games in each of his last five seasons in Tucson. UA was one of only six programs in the nation to win 25 or more games in each of the four seasons prior to 2016-17, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Stephen F. Austin, VCU and Wichita State.

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Players Mentioned

Parker Jackson-Cartwright

Lauri Markkanen

Allonzo Trier

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