Solomon Hill has a superb all-around game — 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists — as Arizona handles Clemson 63-47.

Clemson shot better in the second half, but still finished at just 32.2 percent for the game (19 of 59).

Nick Johnson led the Wildcats with 14 points, making 7 of 9 shots, including three highlight-making dunks. He was chosen the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic.

* * *

Arizona pulls back comfortably ahead, highlighted by another dunk by Nick Johnson, this one coming on a fast break as Josiah Turner leaves a bounce pass for the trailing Johnson, who finishes with two hands for a 55-42 lead with 55-42 lead with 2:50 to go.

* * *

Naturally, after writing that Clemson wouldn’t come back .. Clemson is coming back. A couple of 3-pointers (where have those been all game from the Tigers) and then a drive to the hoop past Josiah Turner helps Clemson climb within 49-42 with 4:23 to go.

Hmmmm … 49-42 doesn’t much sound like Arizona basketball, but this team is going to have to lead with defense to get anywhere.

* * *

One thing for coach Sean Miller to be unhappy about: Arizona has given up 11 offensive rebounds through 33 minutes. That’s not as bad as the 22 offensive rebounds Florida had, but the Gators are great on the offensive glass, so that mismatch was somewhat understandable.

* * *

Clemson’s not coming back. The Tigers have only 32 points with 8:29 to play, and the Wildcats are up by 15 points after a 3-point by Brendon Lavender.

* * *

Josiah has the first step and the handle to get into the lane, but he’s still having trouble finishing at the basket. This is a little bit different than driving the lane in AAU games.

* * *

Clemson closed to 39-25 at a timeout with 14:23 left. It’s not too early to wonder what kind of killer instinct Arizona has, especially after the Wildcats were sloppy in closing out a couple of games early in the season.

* * *

Arizona continuing to roll in the second half, up 39-21 with 15:20 to play and Clemson shooting a paltry 22 percent.

* * *

Good things come in threes (and we’re not talking 3-point shots). Nick Johnson completes his trio of plays with impressive elevation, coming from behind to swat a layup attempt from 6-9 Milton Jennings at the start of the season half.

* * *

Arizona leads 29-16 at halftime, with the defense turning in a shut-down effort against an offensively-challenged Clemson team. The Tigers have missed all nine of their 3-point attempts and have hit only 8 of 35 shots overall.

Nick Johnson leads the Cats with six points.

* * *

Jesse Perry costs Solomon Hill an assist when he misses a dunk after taking a nifty long bounce pass through traffic from Hill with about 2:30 to go.

* * *

Nick Johnson does it again, lighting up the McKale Center crowd with a one-handed dunk. He finishes strong after taking a pass from Solomon Hill along the baseline to the right of the basket and stepping into a monster slam for a 24-10 lead.

* * *

Clemson still cold from the field, hitting just 5 of 21 shots, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range. Arizona leads 20-10 with 7:54 left in the half. Balanced scoring from Arizona, with seven players having between two and four points.

* * *

Freshman Nick Johnson shows off his vertical jump coming out of a timeout, cutting through the lane and rising up to take a pass from Kyle Fogg with his right hand and slam it down. You’ll be seeing plenty of that highlight through the season.

* * *

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kevin Parrom and Solomon Hill push Arizona’s lead to 15-6 with 11:43 to play in the half. A few micro-bursts like that are what the Wildcats need to separate themselves from the Tigers, who are not an explosive offensive team.

* * *

Freshman PG Josiah Turner comes in after the timeout with 14:19 left. He scores on a driving layup on Arizona’s first possession after the break. After that, he turns the ball over on consecutive trips.

* * *

Quite the offensive show. Clemson made 1 of its first 10 shots. Arizona connected on 2 of 6. Mercifully, the first media timeout finally came at 14:19 to go in the half, with the Cats up 7-2.

* * *

Jordin Mayes hits his first shot of the game — a 3-pointer. Mayes was 0 for 7 in the past two games.

Mayes then tries two more 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, missing both.

* * *

Sophomore Jordin Mayes is back in the starting lineup today, as Nick Johnson slides back to shooting guard and Kyle Fogg bumps up to the small forward position. That takes Kevin Parrom out of the starting lineup, although he figures to see ample time coming off his best game of the season.

* * *

Arizona tries to get back in the win column, after the 78-72 overtime loss at Florida on Wednesday. Clemson, although only 4-3, will provide a difficult challenge for the Cats.

Tigers coach Brad Brownell is a disciple of a disciple of Bobby Knight, which means he is committed to tough man-to-man defense and patient motion offense. Clemson is allowing just 55.4 points per game and holding opponents to 38.8 percent shooting.

The Wildcats are expected to welcome back freshman point guard Josiah Turner, who was suspended for the game at Florida.

Keep checking back here during the game for updates and analysis from McKale Center …

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