It was one of those Wild(cat) nights

Remind me to send a thank you note to the Atlantic Sun and Horizon League tournaments. They were the highlight of my Thursday.

Let's get to the news.

1. Arizona wins final Pac-12 regular-season title

The Pac-12’s final basketball season ended with a familiar team on top: Arizona.

The No. 5 Wildcats crushed UCLA on Thursday night, 88-65, for their 18th league title, and second in the last three seasons. Caleb Love scored 17 points, while KJ Lewis led the team with 18 off the bench.

It’s also an outright title for Arizona (24-6, 15-4) which benefitted from Washington State’s loss to Washington on Thursday. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 games, with the only loss coming at home to Wazzu. The Cougars (23-8, 14-6) will be the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tourney.

“I didn't expect that. I thought we were gonna have to win on Saturday," Lloyd said, via the Arizona Daily Star. “Nobody told me until literally before the buzzer went off. I think my whole staff was probably looking on their Apple watches or whatever they do now. Obviously you guys know, I'm not a watch guy. So I had no idea.”

The Pac-12 Tournament usually features some upsets, which means Colorado’s 79-75 win at Oregon (19-11, 11-8) may have come at the right time for the Buffs (21-9, 12-7). They’re trying to stay on the right side of the bubble, while Oregon’s bubble went pop. Utah (18-12, 9-10) will have the same fate as it suffered a 92-85 loss at Oregon State, despite 40 points from big man Branden Carlson.

Also worth watching? USC. The Trojans (13-17, 7-12) have won two straight and seem to be in form as the backcourt of Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier combined for 36 points and eight assists in an 81-73 win over Arizona State.

Still, Arizona may not be too worried. It featured the league’s most efficient offense and defense during conference play, and has scored less than 1.11 points per possession just once during its recent run.

“We're going to celebrate this for probably tonight and a little bit tomorrow," Love said, “but we came here to get the (LA) sweep.”

2. Sam Houston St. clinches CUSA + other results

Sam Houston State’s first season on Conference USA went about as well as could be.

The Bearkats entered Thursday tied with Louisiana Tech atop the league. It won their first matchup this season, and a road win would clinch it for them. You know what happened next.

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