Wildcats struggle against Southern Miss

The Arizona Wildcats struggled at McKale Center tonight and it took a season-best of 23 points from starting guard Nick Johnson to nail down a 63-55 win over Southern Mississippi. The Wildcats needed all of Johnson's points and 14 more off the bench from Kevin Parrom to get by the pesky Golden Eagles (6-2). The Wildcats trailed at the half 35-27 and were down 37-27 just one minute into the second half when Arizona put together a 6-0 run and got back into the game. Still, the 'Cats struggled offensively until Parrom hit a three-pointer with 4:50 to go, giving Arizona a 54-51 lead. The 'Cats extended their lead to 10 at one point down the stretch and held on for their sixth win of the season. Arizona certainly didn't look like the 8th-ranked team in the country tonight and coach Sean Miller will have his troops at full throttle when they hit the practice court tomorrow. A trip to Clemson awaits on Saturday.