On a night in which Sean Miller earned his 400th career victory, he was not much in a festive mood on Thursday.
After nearly blowing a 20-point lead, the No. 23 Wildcats held on to beat Southern California 85-80 at Tucson. Arizona did not make a field goal in the last 8:20 of the game.
The Wildcats next host UCLA on Saturday in a matchup of two head coaches who left the city of Cincinnati to coach out West.
Mick Cronin is in his first season with the Bruins after coaching 13 seasons at Cincinnati (2006-19).