Box ScorePORTLAND, Ore.- The Texas Southern Tigers fell to the #2 seeded Arizona Wildcats on Thursday as TSU saw its amazing season come to an end with the loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats jumped out early and pushed to a 93-72 victory over Texas Southern on Thursday behind solid point production from their front court and perimeter players.
"Arizona is extremely talented and athletic," said TSU head coach Mike Davis. "They have some NBA Lottery picks on that team and overall they play very disciplined basketball. This was a great season for us and I'm proud of our overall effort throughout the game."
Madarious Gibbs had 15 points for Texas Southern as he closed his career as one of the top point guards in the history of the men's basketball program. Gibbs helped lead the Tigers on the amazing run the team has been on the past few weeks en route to being named the 2015 SWAC Player of the Year. Â
Texas Southern made its second straight appearance in the tournament after a 62-58 victory over Southern for the SWAC Tournament title. The Wildcats took a 15-2 advantage early in the contest and never looked back from there.
Deverell Biggs' steal and fast-break layup closed the deficit to 21-11 for Texas Southern. But Arizona responded to go up 40-20 on a bucket with 4:15 left in the half.
TSU's Tonnie Collier had eight points in 7 first-half minutes off the bench for the Tigers. He finished with 10 points in the game.
Arizona stretched the lead to 66-39 on a layup in the second half, as the Wildcats went on to outrebound the Tigers 35-19 in the game. The Tigers concluded the season with a 22-13 overall record including a impressive 16-2 mark in league play.Â
