There probably weren’t many people who correctly predicted how Saturday’s highly-anticipated matchup between No. 13 Oregon and No. 5 Arizona would go.
Oregon blew out Arizona 85-58 in front of an electric sellout crowd at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday afternoon, pulling into a tie for first place in the Pac-12.
The Ducks hit a Knight Arena-record 16 3-pointers and held Arizona to 18 points on a measly 26 percent shooting in the first half. Oregon led by 20 points at halftime and by as many as 37 in the second half.
“Today was just one of those days where the balls goes in,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.
Simply put, it was a beatdown.
“Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent and realize that it wasn’t lack of effort, it wasn’t lack of preparation,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said after the game. “They had some answers. They’re an excellent team and I think we played an excellent team.”
An Oregon win in this game was not all that surprising. Both Oregon and Arizona were expected to vie for the top spot in the conference this year, and both currently have. t was the nature by which Oregon won that was simply shocking.
For the past few weeks, it was Arizona who had been on the rise. Before Saturday, their only losses had come against Gonzaga — the current No. 1 team in the country — and No. 16 Butler. The Wildcats hadn’t lost since Dec. 3 and Allonzo Trier, arguably their best player, had just returned from suspension.
Oregon, on the other hand, had endured a rough week and a half in which it barely squeaked by Arizona State and Utah and  suffered its first conference loss at Colorado.
But on Saturday, the Ducks made a statement.
When asked if Oregon is now the best team in the conference, Miller said that they “looked like the best team today.
“They played great,” Miller said. “Sometimes you forget, Oregon was a number one seed last year. And if you look at the parts they had back and some of the players that have improved, Jordan Bell being a great example, and then some of the additions, Dylan Ennis as a new player — they’re a heck of a basketball team.
“I hope [today was] their best. If they have another level above them, I think that’s a bad thing for I think every team in the country. But they played great and we didn’t have any answers today.”
Oregon head coach Dana Altman said that he told his players before the game that if they didn’t win on Saturday, the race for the Pac-12 title was over.
“We had to win today, I told our guys that this morning,” Altman said. “I said ‘Fellas, to be honest, we’ve gotta win today or it’s over.’ And it would’ve been.”
His team obviously heard him loud and clear.
Still, Altman thinks that Arizona is the one in the driver’s seat for the conference title.
“They’ve still got the lead,” Altman said of Arizona. “One game, one of 31, and one of 18. I’m sure Sean will tell them to flush this game. Going into today they’ve accomplished so much and they’re going to accomplish so much more. They’re a final four team.”
Without a doubt, Arizona is as talented as any team in the country and the remaining schedule for these two teams definitely favors the Wildcats.
But on Saturday, Oregon provided their side of the argument. And boy, was it convincing.