Miller: No. 2 seed Arizona has reason to be wary of Texas Southern
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, one night before Christmas, happened to flip to a channel where Texas Southern was playing Michigan State. It turned out to be must-watch TV.
"I watched that game from start to finish," Miller said of the Tigers' 71-64 win in East Lansing. "If you win at Michigan State, you don't have to say anything more. You're a dangerous team, a very well-coached team. (Mike Davis) did an unbelievable job at the places he's coached. They've also beaten Kansas State at Kansas State."
Arizona (31-3) beat Kansas State 72-68 at the Maui Invitational. Another common opponent is Gonzaga, which lost to Arizona 66-63 in overtime and beat Texas Southern 94-54.
Arizona goes into Thursday morning's game at the Moda Center in Portland as a 23-point favorite. Such is life for second-seeded Arizona, which will face 15th-seeded Texas Southern in the West Region on the NCAA Tournament.
Selection committee chairman Scott Barnes said in a conference call that Arizona had been considered for a No. 1 seed, but its three losses to teams rated worse than 100 in the RPI were too much to overlook. Wisconsin received the No. 1 seed in the West.
"The four one seeds are very deserving," Miller said. "You could have made the argument six or seven teams could have been (a No. 1). The quality of play of the one seeds speaks for itself. The quality of play for the two seeds speaks for itself as well. I'm happy to be one of them."
Still, for Miller, there is no overlooking Texas Southern (21-12), which started the season 1-8, lost by 40 to Gonzaga in December, but rallied for a 13-game winning streak. Texas Southern played the toughest non-conference schedule in the country.
"We have to be ready for a team that is very capable of advancing," Miller said.
Miller singled out Texas Southern guards Chris Thomas (12.3 points per game) and Madarious Gibbs (14.1 points per game). Gibbs adds 4.2 assists per game.
Arizona recruited Thomas when Miller first arrived at Arizona.
"They get to the foul line as well as two guards we've faced all season," Miller said.
Miller compared Texas Southern to Oregon in that they have guards and forwards "that can really spread you out."
And don't forget parity is perhaps at an all-time high. Miller said the trend started about 10 years ago. And, of course, upsets happen all the time in March.
"The first round for everybody is difficult, more so now than ever before," Miller said. "You have to be ready. It's not the best-of-three format. It's who is the best for those 40 minutes."
Miller, naturally, didn't want to look far into the bracket, but it's fun for everyone else to do. Potentially lurking down the road is a good friend (Ohio State coach Thad Matta), his former employer (Xavier) and last season's road block (top-seeded Wisconsin).
"It's all about the first game," Miller said. "The second one will never come our way if we are not ready," Miller said.
Arizona's past, however, might impact the future in that it has done well in the postseason, save for a Final Four appearance. The Wildcats reached the Sweet 16 two years ago, falling to Ohio State, and came within a shot of beating Wisconsin in the 2014 West Region final.
"It's to our advantage only from the perspective of experience," Miller said. "We have a lot of players who were part of last year's tournament."
One, Stanley Johnson, hasn't been, but he's a veteran of international competition and gold-medal-winning teams.
"Stanley has been around," Miller said. "He's no longer a freshman. Nobody knows that more than him. But it's still his first (NCAA) tournament game. We will still tell him to be yourself."
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