The Oregon men’s basketball team defeated the Arizona Wildcats 80-69 in Matthew Knight Arena on Monday night. After sweeping the season series against the Wildcats, the Ducks have now won eight of their last nine games
Oregon didn’t start a player over 6-foot-6. Despite their lack of size, their heavy dose of wing shooting and ball-handling led to a fast-paced start.
The Ducks swung the ball quickly on offense and found open shooters. Two threes from L.J. Figueroa gave the Ducks an early 16-8 lead, five minutes in.
Arizona called a timeout to curtail the Ducks’ early momentum. The break paid dividends for the Wildcats who went on an 8-3 run highlighted by Kerr Kriisa’s second three of the ball game.
Arizona turned the heat up on the defensive side too, holding the Ducks scoreless for five minutes. The Wildcats also continued their collective barrage from deep as Benedict Mathurin tickled the twine from the right-wing. Arizona took its first lead of the contest with seven minutes remaining in the half. 24-23.
The Wildcats continued to dominate on defense. While they didn’t create many turnovers, they played tough defense and ended possessions with rebounds which led to outlet passes and fast-break layups. A breakaway finger-roll from Jordan Brown gave them a 33-27 lead.
After a quick timeout, the Ducks regained momentum. They went on an 8-0 run led by a three, and a left-handed layup from Figueroa. Duarte also added a three off a rhythmic behind-the-back crossover. 35-33 Ducks.
Eugene Omoruyi shot 2-9 from the field in the first half, but he made his presence known on the defensive side. As James Akinjo drove to the cup, Omoruyi rotated over and swatted his shot. Then he capped off the half with a trail three from the right-wing, giving the Ducks a 40-36 lead.
“[Arizona] took that six-point lead,” Altman said. “Then our energy went way up and we went on a 13-3 run to end the half, which I thought was the turning point of the game.”
Oregon shot an impressive 67 percent from deep, although they shot 38 percent from the field in the first half.
Head coach Dana Altman stuck to his gameplan, starting the second half with their small-ball starting five. Omoruyi continued his decisive performance blowing by Arizona’s defense for a euro-step layup. Will Richardson added a smooth three from the left wing to give Oregon its biggest lead of the game, 51-40.
The Wildcats were desperate for a run. They finally took advantage of the mismatch in the paint as center Azoulas Tubelis converted a tough and-one layup off a power dribble, cutting the lead to six.
The Ducks came right back with a run of their own, led once again by Omoruyi. He knocked down his third three of the contest, then finished the following possession with an and-one layup over the outstretched arms of Tubelis.
“I think Eugene was great,” Duarte said. “I told him to bring the energy by playing defense and rebounding, and he did a good job of that.”
With six minutes remaining, the Ducks were looking for one final push to close the door. They got some unexpected playmaking from center Chandler Lawson as he drove the lane and threw an alley-oop to a high-flying Figueroa.
In the waning minutes of the game, Duarte dropped in an 18-footer from the right elbow to give the Ducks a 15-point lead, 78-63. The Ducks didn’t look back from there as they finished off the Wildcats in impressive fashion. Oregon benefitted from an efficient 22-point performance from Duarte. He shot 7-10 from the field, 4-5 from three, and 4-4 from the free-throw line, in a resume-building game for his case as Pac-12 Player of the Year.
Omoruyi added a vital 21-points. Even on a poor shooting night, his hustle was the deciding factor for the Ducks. He provided four steals and multiple and-ones, shooting 8-9 from the free-throw line.
“[Duarte and Omoruyi] had great performances,” Altman said. “Their focus was great… Eugene got a little sped up, but his toughness was great.”
The Ducks improve to 17-5 on the season and 12-4 in conference play as they try to solidify their bid for a spot in March Madness. They’ll face UCLA at home on Wednesday, March 3 in a contest that could decide the conference champion.
