After the Oregon men’s basketball team beat No. 3 Arizona at McArthur Court late last season, Duck fans thought a bigger upset was impossible.
Think again, Duck fans.
With its 79-67 victory over the No. 7 Wildcats (14-6 overall, 6-2 Pacific-10 Conference) Thursday night, Oregon (12-6, 3-5) secured what was easily its most important win of the season, and possibly its most important in a few seasons.
“This was a breakthrough win for us,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
Thinking in terms of the Ducks’ status before the game — 2-5 in the Pac-10 and losers of two straight — Kent said Thursday night’s victory meant more to his team than anything else this season.
Arizona thought it was simply overmatched by the Ducks.
“They had us scouted to perfection,” Wildcat center Loren Woods said. “They executed perfectly.”
Arizona coach Lute Olson said his team had only one excuse — it didn’t play as well as the Ducks did.
“Oregon played about as well as they’re ever going to play,” Olson said. “There’s no way we should have won that game.”
The loss stopped Arizona’s six-game winning streak, and was the first for the Wildcats since Olson returned to the team from grieving for his deceased wife. It was the team’s second loss with Olson at the helm this season.
The upset moved Arizona to 6-2 in Pac-10 play, and two games behind Stanford for the conference lead. With UCLA’s 92-63 loss to California, the Wildcats now share second place with the Bruins and the Golden Bears.
“We take a minor step back,” Woods said. “We’re not about to go down the hill. Oregon came, they were a good team, and they beat us. Oh well. We’ve just got to move on.”
While Arizona suffered a minor setback in its quest for a Pac-10 championship, the Ducks made a leap forward in their hopes to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
“It does a lot for our confidence to finally get the big win,” Oregon forward Bryan Bracey said.
The Ducks moved within two games of fifth-placed Southern California with the win. Oregon moved a game ahead of seventh-placed Oregon State, which lost to Arizona State 73-58 Thursday night.
Almost more important than their improved record was the improved performance of the Ducks against the Wildcats. The Ducks hit 42.9 percent of their shots, while holding Arizona to just 35.2 percent. Oregon outblocked, outshot and had more assists than the Wildcats.
“This is a good team,” Woods said after the Ducks held him to 11 points and four rebounds Thursday night.
Olson’s Wildcats have had an up-and-down season.
Thursday night was another low point for Arizona, and Olson had a few parting thoughts about the loss as he left Mac Court Thursday night.
“If we’re going to be a really good ball club, there are certain things we need to work on,” Olson said. “We’ve got to do things game in and game out, not six games and stop.”
That “stop,” it seems, usually occurs when the Wildcats come to Eugene.