The Oregon men’s basketball team trailed by five points as the clock wound down at the end of the first half. But with the way the Ducks were playing, the deficit felt larger. Senior point guard Johnathan Loyd dribbled in place for nearly 20 seconds before the Ducks started running their play. Redshirt senior Jason Calliste came off a screen, flashed towards the top of the three-point line and fired a shot. He buried it with about five seconds remaining, cutting Arizona’s lead to 31-29 as the teams exited the court.
Quantifying the value of this one play is impossible to do, but for a team struggling on offense the entire first half, Calliste’s shot was undoubtedly momentous.
“It was huge,” redshirt senior forward Mike Moser said. “It picked up everything.”
Moser said this shot and the several other huge shots Calliste hit down the stretch helped the defense more than anything. The pressure subsided, the energy from the team and the crowd exploded and the lead transferred from Arizona to Oregon. The Ducks (22-8, 10-8 Pac-12) ended up beating No. 3 Arizona (28-3, 15-3) 64-57 on Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena, marking their seventh-straight win and likely cementing an NCAA tournament berth.
As the crowd stormed the court when the game concluded, the seniors likely earned the most high-fives and hugs of any Oregon players. In the final regular season game of their careers, the seniors played the biggest roles in Oregon’s upset.
“I just didn’t want to lose,” Calliste said postgame. “It’s not time to go home yet. There’s still work to be done.”
Loyd and Calliste played the most pivotal roles in the biggest stretch of the game, as well. With just under six minutes left, the Ducks — trailing 50-48 — looked to tie the game up for the first time since 18:50 left in the first half, when the score was 2-2. Johnathan Loyd had possession of the ball and made a powerful drive to the hoop, a rare occurrence against Arizona’s stout defense. Loyd’s layup was contested but he still managed to convert the shot, bringing the fans to their feet in a collective roar.
Aaron Gordon hit one of two free throws the following possession to regain the lead. Then, Calliste made one of the biggest shots of the night. With seven-foot center Caleb Tarczewski in his face, Calliste faded away on a long two-point jump shot, Tarczewski committed a foul, the ball splashed through the net and the crowd went ballistic. The always calm Calliste stepped up to the line and sunk the free throw.
“You put the ball in his hands, you run something for him, he’s not going to shy away from it at all,” head coach Dana Altman said of Calliste.
Calliste wasn’t done, either. Two possessions later, he received a pass from Loyd and drilled a three-pointer to put the Ducks up 56-51. It was Calliste’s fourth and final three-point make on five attempts of the night.
Loyd raised the noise level a few decibels two possessions later when he hit a three of his own, essentially putting the game out of reach at 59-51 with 2:44 left.
“Right when it hit me, it just felt good, and I knew it was money when it left my hands,” Loyd said.
Moser shot just 4-of-11 overall on Saturday, but three of those makes came at the beginning of the half when none of his teammates could score. He hit two threes, converted a nifty lay up and caused Gordon (game-high 21 points, 7-of-17 from the field) to get into foul trouble.
“He’s obviously really talented,” Moser said of Gordon, “so we definitely didn’t want him on the court.”
Without these points from Moser, Calliste and Loyd likely wouldn’t have had the chance to take over the game later in the half.
Seniors Waverly Austin, Richard Amardi and redshirt sophomore Elgin Cook played just 32 minutes combined, but they each contributed energy on both sides of the ball. Junior Joseph Young and sophomores Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis combined to shoot 3-of-18 from the field (Dotson and Artis didn’t make a shot). The only non-senior to make a positive impact for Oregon was sophomore Ben Carter, and he only played 13 minutes.
“On a night where Joe didn’t shoot it real well, Dot didn’t shoot well, our seniors stepped up and hit some shots,” Altman said.
While their regular season might be over, the seniors hope their careers are far from the end. During the senior ceremony following the game, Loyd thanked several people and asked his fellow seniors if they wanted to say anything. It took just a couple of seconds for senior guard Nicholas Lucenti to grab the microphone.
“Let’s keep this rolling,” Lucenti said.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415