The fifth-ranked Arizona Wildcats will tip off against the Texas Southern Tigers today at 2:10 p.m. ET in Portland, OR. Arizona comes in as a No. 2 seed while Texas Southern grabbed a bid as a No. 15 seed after winning the Southwestern Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Arizona (31-3) just missed grabbing a No. 1 seed and was beat out by Kentucky, Villanova, Wisconsin and Duke. The Wildcats won both the regular season Pac-12 Championship as well as the conference tournament en route to their second consecutive 30-win season. Forwards Stanley Johnson and Brandon Ashley led the way for the Wildcats in victories over California, UCLA and Oregon to claim the Pac-12 Tournament title.
Johnson leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game and Ashley is right behind him with 12.3 ppg. Guard T.J. McConnell leads the team in assists per game (6.4) and forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson grabs the most boards (6.8). Arizona's balanced attack on offense and defense as well as their ability to evenly distribute points (six players average 9 ppg or more) make them one of the biggest threats in this year's tournament. They've won 11 straight and 17 of their last 18.
Texas Southern (22-12), like Arizona, was the No. 1 seed in their conference tournament and cruised to three straight victories over Alcorn State, Prairie View A&M and Southern University. They've also won 11 straight games behind top scorer Madarious Gibbs (14.1 ppg), who also leads the team in assists (4.3 apg). Forwards Malcolm Riley (10.2 ppg) and Chris Thomas (12.6 ppg) lead the team in rebounds with a total average of 11.5 per game.
Although they come into today's game heavily outmatched, the Tigers faced some formidable opponents this year, including Eastern Washington, Indiana, Tennessee, SMU, Baylor, Florida, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Auburn and Kansas State, so they have some experience in that department despite going 2-8 in those matchups. Still, the Wildcats will be their toughest opponent yet.
Here are some notable statistics for both Arizona and Texas Southern heading into today's 2:10 p.m. matchup in Portland, OR.
Arizona | Texas Southern |
RPI - .6563 (6th overall) | RPI - .5216 (125th overall) |
SOS - 38 | SOS - 303 |
PPG - 76.4 (22nd overall) | PPG - 68.2 (156th overall) |
FG% - .489 (6th overall) | FG% - .444 (117th overall) |
Points Allowed Per Game - 58.6 (15th overall) | Points Allowed Per Game - 67.4 (198th overall) |
Turnovers Per Game - 11.2 (51st overall) | Turnovers Per Game - 13.1 (228th overall) |
Season Rank - 5 | Season Rank - 117 |
Check out the live stream for today's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here. You can also watch the event on TNT this afternoon.
