PORTLAND — The biggest mismatch of any Portland pairing held true to form.
The Wildcats dominated early and throughout a 93-72 win over Texas Southern at the Moda Center on Thursday.
Arizona jumped to a 15-2 lead before stretching it to 54-33 by halftime.
Arizona physically overmatched Texas Southern. The Wildcats outrebounded the Tigers 35-19and used their size to create high-quality shots. Arizona shot 60.4 percent from the field, including 69.0 percent in the first half.
Johnson, Arizona’s 6-foot-7 freshman phenom, looked every bit the NBA Lottery draft pick he’s projected to be. The forward scored 22 points, making 8 of 11 field goals including 4 for 5 from 3-point range.
Arizona’s other forward, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, scored 23 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
“With size and athleticism that they have, it was kind of hard to compete with them,” said Texas Southern guard Madarious Gibbs, who led the Tigers with 15 points.
Arizona coach Sean Miller praised his team’s efficiency on offense, but criticized a defensive performance that saw Texas Southern shoot 49 percent.
“We came into this tournament as a great defensive team,” Miller said. “We were not that today. Not that, you know, the roof’s caving in on us, but I think the point that we made is this tournament is unforgiving.”
The Wildcats face No. 7-seeded VCU or No. 10-seeded Ohio State on Saturday in Portland.
It was the 12th straight win for the Wildcats, who were coming off an 80-52 thrashing of Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game last weekend.
Texas Southern was making its second straight appearance in the tournament after a 62-58 victory over Southern for the SWAC Tournament title. Last season the Tigers fell to Cal Poly in their NCAA Tournament opener.
The Wildcats rolled through last year’s tournament with victories over Weber State, Gonzaga and San Diego State before falling to Wisconsin in the round of eight. Gone from that team are Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson.
The teams had never met, but Arizona was wary going into the game because of Texas Sothern’s regular-season upsets at Michigan State and Kansas State. The Wildcats, meanwhile, had dropped games to unranked challengers UNLV, Oregon State and Arizona State.
The Wildcats took a 15-2 lead, subduing the smaller Tigers from the start. Ashley’s dish to Dusan Ristic under the basket for a layup extended the lead to 17-4.
Deverell Biggs’ steal and fast-break layup narrowed the gap slightly to 21-11 for Texas Southern. But Arizona responded to go up 40-20 on Hollis-Jefferson’s dunk with 4:15 left in the half.
Hollis-Jefferson led all players with 16 points and 7 rebounds at the break, and the Wildcats led 54-33. Tonnie Collier had eight points in 7 first-half minutes off the bench for the Tigers. He finished with 10 points.
Arizona stretched the lead to 66-39 on Elliott Pitts’ layup in the second half, but coach Sean Miller was judicious with his starters. The Wildcats outrebounded the Tigers 35-19.
“They’re one of the best teams we’ve ever played,” Biggs said. “They’re up there with the Gonzagas, the Michigan States, the Kansas States.”
