Someone finally figured out how to beat the Oregon Ducks at McArthur Court.
And Arizona, ranked No. 1 to begin the season, won by attacking the Ducks’ No. 1 weakness.
Channing Frye’s putback dunk with 31 seconds remaining sealed the Wildcats’ 81-72 victory Thursday and put the exclamation point on No. 4 Arizona’s 50-28 rebounding advantage.
The loss snapped a 23-game home-winning streak for the No. 9 Ducks (10-2 overall, 1-1 Pacific-10 Conference), a streak dating back to Oregon’s last home loss on Feb. 24, 2001. The streak ties the school record set from 1937-39.
The Ducks led 41-37 at halftime, but withered late in the game when Arizona turned its attention on the boards.
“When they became the aggressor, we didn’t respond,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “We need to be a little tougher. We needed a little bit more out of our big guys, particularly in the area
of rebounding.”
Oregon’s Luke Jackson (20 points) and Luke Ridnour combined for 36 points, but it was Arizona’s senior duo of Jason Gardner and Rick Anderson who deflated the soldout Mac Court crowd
of 9,087.
Gardner hit a three-pointer with 2:13 left to give the Wildcats their first lead of the second half at 73-70, and then Anderson hit a trey a minute later to extend the lead
to six.
Early in the second half, the Ducks led by as much as 10 after a Jackson three-pointer with 15:11 left. But Arizona snapped its three-game losing streak in Eugene with an in-your-face defense and by attacking the offensive glass. It didn’t helped that Oregon missed a number of layins and short jumpers.
“Arizona’s forte isn’t usually rebounding,” Jackson said. “But you gotta give them credit, they came out with fire. We made some silly mistakes at the end that cost us the game.”
Senior forward Robert Johnson led the Ducks with nine rebounds, though seven of those came in the first half.
“Johnson killed us in the first half,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “But in the second half our guys did a great job of keeping him off the boards.”
Arizona (9-1, 2-0) won despite the absence of senior Luke Walton, who has struggled with injuries much of the season.
“This is a big victory for me; this is a big victory for this team,” Gardner said. “Our young guys stepped up big.”
Gardner finished with a game-high 21 points.
“There’s no question that Jason was the ringleader,” Olson said. “He did what seniors do in the clutch. He’s a winner.”
Arizona’s depth also proved pivotal as four Wildcats scored in double figures and eight played at least 12 minutes. Freshman Hassan Adams finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
“We need to focus more on blocking out — that really hurt us,” said Ridnour, who had seven assists but eight turnovers.