The Ducks (14-6, 6-3) took over sole possession of first in the conference after Thursday’s win over Arizona State. The Wildcats lost at Oregon State that night to fall a game behind Oregon, but made up that difference by ending a six-game losing streak in Eugene on Saturday.
Oregon never led in the game, and played catchup most of the afternoon after falling behind 17-5 in the opening minutes. Arizona shot 49.1 percent overall and 52.6 percent from three-point range.
“The bottom line is, we’ve gotta guard better,” UO coach Dana Altman said. “They’re a very good offensive team; all their players are skilled and know their roles. But still, defensively we’ve gotta get better.”
Jermaine Couisnard had 20 points to lead the Ducks, and N’Faly Dante added 19 points with five rebounds. Of greater long-term concern than the result was the status of senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy, who had to be carried off the court in the second half with what appeared to be a serious leg injury. Altman said Barthelemy was at the hospital Saturday evening getting tests, acknowledging that “it wasn’t good.”
“Injuries are the one thing that really takes away from the fun,” Altman said. “Seeing him like that … he really was playing good, really had a flow going there. Just really sad to see.”
How It Happened: Both teams came out firing and a Jackson Shelstad three-pointer made it 6-5 in the opening minutes. But Arizona then went on an 11-0 run, and the Ducks were in chase mode the rest of the game.
Five points from Kwame Evans Jr. sparked a 7-0 run that got Oregon back within 17-12. After a three-pointer by Barthelemy made it 23-19, Arizona stretched the lead to eight before buckets by Nate Bittle and Dante got the Ducks back within four.
Altman was critical of himself postgame for not taking a timeout late in the first half, when Arizona went on a run to stretch its lead from 31-27 to 41-29. Oregon eventually trailed by as many as 14, at 45-31, before scoring the last seven points of the first half — including a buzzer-beating, three-quarter-court heave by Couisnard to make it 45-38.
But after scoring on its first six possessions of the first half, Arizona opened the second half by scoring on five…
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