Sean Elliott Scores 25 as Arizona Breezes

Sean Elliott scored 25 points, and top-ranked Arizona held Clemson scoreless for more than nine minutes Saturday to beat the Tigers, 94-68, and advance to the semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. West Regional.

The Wildcats (29-3) led by 14 in the first half and withstood a Clemson rally in the opening minutes of the second before pulling away to their 11th straight victory and fourth straight blowout.

Arizona plays No. 15 Nevada-Las Vegas Thursday night in Denver.

Matt Muehlebach scored 19 for Arizona, including four three-pointers. His two three-point baskets helped lift the Wildcats out of trouble after Clemson cut the lead to four early in the second half.

Clemson (19-11) went 9 minutes 22 seconds without scoring in the first half.

The Tigers led, 25-23, on Ricky Jones’ 19-foot jumper with 10:11 to play in the first half. Arizona, despite a sputtering offense of its own, scored the next 16 points to take a 39-25 lead on Muehlebach’s steal and layup with 4:39 to play.

The Tigers finally scored when Derrick Forrest sank a pair of free throws with 1:49 left in the half. Clemson committed 13 turnovers during the 16-0 Arizona streak.

After trailing by nine at halftime, the Tigers came out strong.

A pair of three-pointers by Forrest and a dunk by Eldon Campbell pulled Clemson within 49-45 with 16:06 to play. But Muuehlebach hit two three-pointers and Elliott scored on a drive to boost the lead back to 57-45 and the Tigers never came closer than 10 again.

The Wildcats’ biggest lead was the final margin.

Campbell scored 24 and Forrest 21 for the Tigers, the sixth-place finisher in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Jud Buechler added 15 points and Anthony Cook 14 for Arizona.