Despite taking the loss to Florida earlier in the week, many felt it was the best game the Arizona Wildcats had played this season. After a quick turnaround on Saturday afternoon against a quality opponent in the Clemson Tigers, UA stepped up once again and continued to improve by leaps and bounds. The Wildcats led for all 40 minutes and came away with a 63-47 victory.
It was a balanced scoring effort from Arizona against Clemson and the team was led by freshman Nick Johnson, who scored 14 points, many of which came with highlight reel dunks. Solomon Hill continued to be the best player on the team, going for 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Kyle Fogg played stellar defense throughout the game and ended with eight points, four assists and seven rebounds.
Josiah Turner, who was playing for the first time in seven days after serving a one game suspension, was sloppy at times, but he continues to improve on a game-by-game basis. The young point guard scored six points, dished out two assists and brought down five rebounds. Angelo Chol had the best game of his career, and while his stat line looks rather pedestrian (5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block in 13 minutes), it seemed like the lanky freshman always had an answer when his team called upon him.
Clemson shot 19-for-60 from the field, 4-for-19 from behind the arc, and only shot five free throws. Of their 47 points, Andre Young scored 19, while big man Devin Booker scored nine points and brought in five rebounds.
This was a big game for Arizona and they responded with their best team effort of the year. With finals week looming, the team will get a chance to recover somewhat before hitting the road once again to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Seattle.