Kyle Fogg's drives to the basket eases the scoring load on point guard Nic Wise/Wildcat Sports Report

Arizona junior forward Jamelle Horne made 18 3-point shots in his first two seasons at Arizona, spanning 1,403 minutes. He shot 26.1 percent from behind the arc.

This season, he has made 25 shots from behind the arc in 14 games, spanning 402 minutes.

“It’s getting hectic in practice with him hitting all those open shots,” freshman wing Solomon Hill said Tuesday in a gathering with reporters.

“It’s really paying off in games, especially the UCLA game. They really didn’t get at him like he was a big-time shooter, and it really opened up a lot for everybody else.”

Horne did hit 4 of 8 3-point shots in Saturday’s 77-63 victory at UCLA, and he was 3-for-6 a game earlier against USC, so that was a hot-shooting road trip for Horne.

He isn’t what you would call a pure shooter, and you can’t mention the word consistency with his scoring output, but Horne is dropping his 3-point rainbows into the basket at a rate of 42.4 percent (25 of 59), which ranks 10th in the Pac-10. Not bad.

He also is fifth in rebounding at 7.5 per game, making him the only player in the conference to be in the top 10 in rebounding and 3-point percentage.

Teams have to somewhat respect his prowess from behind the arc … or else he’ll just keep shooting and making a nice percentage.

“With Jamelle hitting as many shots as he did … it’s kind of opening the floor,” Hill said of the UCLA game. “We were really moving the ball, and it opened up a lot for (Kyle) Fogg, and he was really aggressive.”

Fogg’s drives to the basket helped him earn a career-high 25 points against the Bruins, as Arizona won comfortably, despite a mere eight points from point guard Nic Wise.

“If Nic doesn’t have to score in double digits and we’re beating teams by that margin, I think that’s great. I think that’s the best thing that could happen to us,” Hill said.

“What happens when we’re playing that way and Nic hits a couple of threes and gets a couple of drives and gets to the free throw line? It’s a big sigh of relief. It takes a little off Nic. He doesn’t have to work as hard and get as tired. …

“If I was Nic, I would feel good about it — that my team is out there performing and we’re playing the way we’re supposed to. Nic should know that if there are certain games where he can take over, then he should take over. But games like that where we can all get a little bit is good.”

A 20TH VICTORY?
Although some media reports have said that USC will forfeit its victories from the 2007-08 season because of NCAA rules violations regarding the recruitment of O.J. Mayo, the wording from the official press release said that those wins would be “vacated.”

Big difference.

A forfeit changes the result, which means USC’s one victory over Arizona that season would end up being a win for the Wildcats. That would give UA a 20th victory and extend its streak of at least 20 victories to 22 seasons.

However, “vacating” the victories means that the Trojans just don’t count them, although it doesn’t change the on-court result. If that makes sense.

Richard Paige of the UA sports information office said he hadn’t checked with the NCAA to see what the official ruling is, but he wasn’t expecting Arizona to pick up that 20th victory.

Regarding the mess at USC, UA freshmen Derrick Williams and MoMo Jones switched their commitments from the Trojans after coach Tim Floyd resigned amid the beginning of this investigation. Hill already had decided to switch to the Cats following the hiring of Sean Miller.

The only freshman in the original class who stayed at USC was Evan Smith.

The Trojans’ self-imposed penalties included a postseason ban after this season.

“Evan, we’re close to him,” Williams said. “I kind of feel bad for him, but there is nothing you can do about it now.”

Garland Judkins, seen here in the 2008 Red-Blue Game, isn't expected back in an Arizona uniform/Tucson Citizen photo

YET ANOTHER TRANSFER
Miller said on Tuesday’s Pac-10 coaches conference call with reporters that there was nothing definite about the departure of sophomore guard Garland Judkins, but other reports, including a late afternoon report from the Arizona Daily Star’s Bruce Pascoe, pretty much nailed down the transfer.

Expect Miller to have more to say about it Wednesday afternoon when he meets with the local media in his weekly news conference.

Judkins’ transfer, given his lack of playing time now and in the foreseeable future, is no surprise. He had no role in the program. Besides, transfers out of the program are to be expected at Arizona.

Sixteen Wildcats have transferred, either at mid-season or at the end of the season, in the past dozen years Here they are:

• Garland Judkins (2009)
• Zane Johnson (2009) Hawaii
• Jeff Withey (2008) Kansas
• Mohamed Tangara (2008) Chaminade
• Laval Lucas-Perry (2007) Michigan
• J.P. Prince (2006) Tennessee
• Jesus Verdejo (2005) South Florida
• Dennis Latimore (2003) Notre Dame
• Will Bynum (2003) Georgia Tech
• Andrew Zahn (2002) Biola (Calif.)
• Travis Hanour (2001) San Diego State
• Luke Recker (2000) Iowa
• Robertas Javtokas (2000) Lithuania
• Traves Wilson (1999) Illinois State
• Ruben Douglas (1999) New Mexico
• Quynn Tebbs (1998) Weber State