The stomach-turning journey within screaming distance of the Pac-12 Conference tournament would seem familiar to Arizona and USC.
The schools ranked among the country's top 10 teams in the preseason before the FBI arrested top assistants from both programs and plunged them into the middle of the federal probe into bribery and corruption in college basketball. Arizona and USC plummeted out of the top 25. They faced grand jury subpoenas and wiretapped phone calls. Key recruits fled. Uncertainty swirled around both schools.
Behind the unstoppable Deandre Ayton, No. 15 Arizona took control of the back-and-forth game in the second half to emerge with a 75-61 win and its seventh conference tournament title.