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LOS ANGELES — USC's gimmick defense threatened to unhinge the Wildcats on Thursday, so senior Jawann McClellan came prepared with more than just his usual glue.

This time, in Arizona's 80-69 win at USC on Thursday, the Wildcats' power forward elevated into a standout scoring role. He had a career-high 23 points while Chase Budinger had 29, leading the Wildcats to their first victory at USC in three years.

"Unbelievable," UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill said of McClellan. "He played unbelievable."

The win improved the UA to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-10 entering a game at UCLA on Saturday. The Trojans dropped to 13-7 and 4-4.

The Wildcats had lost four of their previous six games played at USC, including the past two.

McClellan's scoring helped the UA compensate for off nights by forward Jordan Hill, who had just seven points on 3-for-10 shooting, and leading scorer Jerryd Bayless, who was tied down early along with Budinger by USC's triangle-and-two defense.

"We knew they were going to try to wrinkle up Chase and Jerryd," McClellan said. "Like I've said, whenever the opportunity presents itself. I'm not going to force anything. I just play along. If I'm open, I'll take shots. If I'm not, I won't."

He was open. Often. USC's defense had O.J. Mayo guarding Bayless, and Dwight Lewis guarding Budinger while the other three Trojans sat in a triangle-shaped zone. While Bayless was held to four points on 2-for-5 shooting in the first half, Budinger managed to score most of his points late in the half. He shot 5 for 8 before halftime.

While McClellan's three three-pointers in the first 12 minutes helped give the UA a 21-19 lead with eight minutes left in the first half, guard Nic Wise also took advantage of USC's defense, scoring three points with five assists in the first half after entering the game with 17 minutes left.

"When they went triangle-and-two — we worked on this all week — we knew we were going to invert it, with Nic and Jawann up top," O'Neill said. They were told " 'if you get an open shot, you've got to shoot it.' (McClellan) hit two threes that kind of got them out of the thing and that kind of made it easier for the rest of the night."

Then, Budinger began to take over. He scored 11 first-half points for the UA, nine in the final six minutes, when the Wildcats came back from a 28-21 deficit.

Budinger then poured in another 18 points in the second half, for a total that was just a point shy of his season-high 30 against Oregon on Jan. 5. He played 37 minutes while McClellan played all 40.

"He's getting more mature and he's getting in condition," O'Neill said of Budinger. "His long-term conditioning is good. He's becoming a guy that really is a guy you can go to. He hit some huge shots."

Wise also kept accelerating in the second half. He had another three assists, to total eight with zero turnovers, while making 3 of 5 three-pointers.

Wise's last three, with 2:31 left, all but put the game away. While USC began the second half with an 11-4 run that gave it a 42-38 lead, Budinger scored eight points over a five-minute span midway through the second half that helped the UA stay close.

Then, after USC took a 56-55 lead with 7:23 left, the Wildcats went on a 12-3 run to take a 67-59 lead with 3:41 to go. Wise's final three then gave Arizona a 71-61 lead and the Wildcats hung on from there.

"We needed that," Budinger said. "Jawann was definitely our X-factor tonight, and Nic also played really well. That's what we need to be a really good team."

In the first half, Mayo held Bayless in check, but the Wildcats received 13 points from McClellan to take a 34-31 halftime lead.

USC lost guard Daniel Hackett after just two minutes of the game, when he suffered a bruised right hip. Hackett entered the game as the Trojans' fourth-leading scorer (11.1 points) and led in assists (4.0). He is also one of the team's best defenders.

Jamelle Horne played the first three minutes of the game but picked up an early foul and O'Neill went with a smaller lineup featuring Wise at point guard for much of the half. O'Neill also used Fendi Onobun briefly in the second half when Hill was in foul trouble.

The Wildcats again did not have forward Bret Brielmaier available for the fourth straight game. Brielmaier, who has missed a total of six games since separating his right shoulder Dec. 22 against San Diego State, has been practicing this week and said he hoped to be able to play Saturday at UCLA.

Brielmaier isn't the only one with a sore shoulder. Hill said the slight shoulder sprain he suffered last week against Washington has restricted his range of motion.