Behind suffocating defense and 14 points from Nick Johnson, Arizona never trailed and defeated Clemson 63-47 in McKale Center to move to 7-3.

The Wildcats collected seven steals, five blocks and held the Tigers to 31.7 percent shooting — 22.9 percent in the first half — on their way to limiting Clemson to a season-low 47 points.

Johnson, who missed only two shots on the night, energized McKale by slamming home three monster dunks including the posterization of 7-foot-2 center Catalin Baciu.

The freshman didn’t do it alone, however. Nine different Wildcats scored at least one point and Arizona shot 51.0 from the field.

Solomon Hill continued his solid play with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to along with seven rebounds and six assists, while Jordin Mayes made his first bucket in three games and scored seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.

Josiah Turner also put his one-game suspension against Florida behind him as he scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and collected two steals. Although he missed five of his six shots, Kyle Fogg finished with eight points, seven boards and three steals.

Thanks to its defense and balanced scoring Arizona opened the game on a 7-2 run and eventually took a 29-16 lead into halftime. The Wildcats continued their stellar play into the second half, as they rattled off a 10-5 run to stretch their lead to 18 with 15:20 to go.

Clemson wouldn’t go away, however. After the Wildcats led 47-32 with 8:40 to go the Tigers went on a 10-2 run to cut the Arizona lead to seven with 4:30 to go.

After a timeout by Sean Miller, Hill scored two straight buckets, Johnson slammed home a fastbreak dunk off a no-look pass from Turner and Arizona pushed its lead back to 13.

UA wouldn’t let up from there as it cruised to its seventh victory of the season. The Wildcats will have a week off before they head to Spokane, Wash., to take on Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs.