USC’s Marqise Lee has a record-breaking day for the ages … in a loss (VIDEO)

USC's Marqise Lee had the Pac-12 record for receiving yards in a game and still had nearly a half to play.

Lee had one of the greatest games ever for a college football receiver, with 16 catches and 345 yards, and the final image of him from the game is with his head in his hands in anguish after he couldn't haul in a Hail Mary, as USC inexplicably lost despite Lee's efforts.

Lee couldn't help USC's porous defense, and so Arizona took a 39-36 win. That's a shame, because Lee deserved better after his monster day.

Arizona simply could not cover Lee,who had 255 yards in the first half alone. USC has a lot of weapons to account for on offense, but that's simply inexcusable defense by the Wildcats.

Lee set the Pac-12 record on a 44-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter. The old record was 293 yards by Mike Hass, set by Oregon State in 2004 against Boise State. For a while it looked like Lee had a shot at the FBS single-game record of 405 yards, set by Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards in 1998.

On the other side Arizona's Austin Hill was having his own big day, with 10 catches for 259 yards. The Wildcats scored 26 unanswered points in the second half to turn a 15-point deficit into an 11-point lead.

In the fourth quarter USC pulled within three points on a touchdown, and a 2-point conversion by (who else?) Lee. USC got the ball back late in the game and Lee had a chance to be the ultimate hero, as he got his hands on Matt Barkley's final desperation throw.

But Arizona had more hands on the ball and it fell incomplete, ruining whatever BCS title hopes USC harbored, and Lee's record-breaking day too.

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