PORTLAND -- It was about three weeks ago when Sean Miller was asked what he thought about the national media's perception that Arizona was good . . . but couldn't score enough points to win crucial games.
"Line 'em up," he said. "I'd like to talk to them. They have to criticize something."
On Wednesday, Miller threw in this: The offense "may be better than a lot of people realize."
Well, how do you like No. 2 seed Arizona now? On Thursday, Arizona reached 90 points for the third time in six games, beating No. 15-seed Texas Southern 93-72 in the NCAA tournament. It's the Wildcats' most points in an NCAA tournament game since beating Duke in the Sweet 16 in 2011.
Second-seeded Arizona (32-3) faces 10th-seed Ohio State (23-10) on Saturday in the round of 32.
Thursday's wire-to-wire win over outmanned Texas Southern was the sixth consecutive game the Wildcats have scored 70 or more points. All five starters scored in double figures, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's career-high 23 leading the way. Stanley Johnson added 22, Brandon Ashley 14, Kaleb Tarczewski 13 and T.J. McConnell 12.
The perception of Arizona having trouble scoring may not be the reality.
"(Those) who says things about our scoring is coming from everybody else outside this locker room," Johnson said. "We don't focus on scoring. In our offensive execution we obviously want to score, but it's never like, 'Oh, my God, we didn't score enough points today.' That's never a topic. All that offensive stuff comes from people not on this team."
On Thursday, Arizona clicked plenty on offensively. It shot 60 percent from the floor and hit 24 of 27 from the free throw line.
Hollis-Jefferson had a field day on offense; Johnson was strong on the perimeter.
"I was just swinging at strikes," Johnson said. "I made a couple of them. I take open shots. Obviously, I was feeling it."
But while the Wildcats were feasting offensively, they weren't up to their usual standards on the other end of the court. The players know they have to be better on defense.
"That's what it's like to be at Arizona," McConnell said.
Added Ashley: "We didn't get the stops we needed to get. If we want to advance and get to the Final Four and all that, we'll have to play way better defense."
Despite being up in the teens early into the game and in the 20s by the end of the half 54-33 -- Arizona wasn't pleased about swapping baskets with the Tigers the rest of the way. Miller made it a topic of discussion at halftime after the Tigers hit 47 percent from the floor. The halftime discussion must have fallen on deaf ears because Texas Southern shot 54 percent in the second half.
"We were not that today," Miller said, when asked about being a great defensive team. "Not that the roof's caving in, but I think the point we made is this tournament is unforgiving. When you don't do the things you do well, you're not in the tournament very long."
McConnell called it the "worst defensive performance we've had all year . . . We had too many one-on-one breakdowns. We just couldn't guard anybody, especially me."
The Wildcats were able to get away with it against Texas Southern, but their opponents moving forward are not likely to be so forgiving.
"We're a good team, and (sometimes) it's easy to win some games just because of the talent," Tarczewski said. "But we have to know moving forward that there are great teams in this tournament. On any given night any team can beat another team. We have to be prepared and play hard."
Another opportunity comes Saturday.
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