Arizona has its final "big" game of the regular season Saturday night as No. 14 Oregon has made its way to Tucson for its second meeting of the season with the Wildcats. The Ducks got the better of UA back in Eugene last month in an overtime victory that could have gone either way. UA knocked off Oregon State on Thursday night while Oregon lost to Arizona State.
It's an important game for both teams in the conference standings and it should be a fun one. As always I invite you all to join the conversation throughout the game as well as follow along for updates from the media section at McKale.
Pregame
- N'Faly Dante is not expected to play tonight for the Ducks. The freshman big man scored 10 points in the last meeting with UA but has been plagued by a knee injury over the last several weeks. He warmed up with the rest of the team against ASU, but tonight he is in sweats and didn't go through early warmups with the rest of the team.
Starters
1st half
- Payton Pritchard knocks down a 3-pointer to get the game going; Nico Mannion hits a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to answer; Pritchard with 5 early points after he hits a couple free throws for the Ducks; Pritchard with a strong take to the hoop against the Arizona defense and he gets the shot to fall to put Oregon up 4 after the Wildcats miss two shots right at the rim; Zeke Nnaji with a tough shot that he gets to fall plus he gets fouled and will shoot a free throw after the timeout [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 7 Arizona 5 - 15:53]
- Nnaji hits the free throw out of the timeout to make it a 1-point game; Nnaji connects on another layup as he cleans up a miss underneath to give UA its first lead; Shakir Juiston hits a corner 3-pointer for the Ducks to quiet the crowd a bit; Stone Gettings with a nice move and layup in the paint for UA to tie it back up; Dylan Smith fouled and he hits one of two from the line for the Wildcats to put UA up 1; Pritchard with 10 points now as he hits a 3-pointer just as the shot clock expires to put the Ducks back on top [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 13 Arizona 11 - 11:37]
- Max Hazzard hits a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up; Will Richardson hits a tough layup for the Ducks; Hazzard rattles home another 3-pointer off an OOB play; Anthony Mathis answers quickly on the other end with a 3-pointer of his own; Josh Green with a tough take to the hoop and he gives Arizona back the lead; Nnaji fouled and he hits one of two from the line; Pritchard ties it up at 20 with another jumper for the Ducks [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 20 Arizona 20 - 7:51]
- Nnaji fouled and he hits one of two free throws to put the Wildcats back on top; Mathis fouled by Mannion and he hits two free throws to put Oregon out in front again; Mathis with a 3-pointer on the other end after Gettings missed a layup. Smith with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats on the other end; Mathis is on fire and he hits another 3-pointer for the Ducks to put his team up 4; Mannion with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a 1-point game; Pritchard with a layup on three defenders; Smith answers for Arizona to make it a one-point lead once more [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 30 Arizona 29 - 3:25]
- Green hits a corner 3-pointer to put the Wildcats up 2; Pritchard having a heck of a game and he hits a 3-pointer of his own on the other end to answer for the Ducks; Nnaji hits one of two from the line to tie it up at 33; Pritchard hits another 3-pointer and he has 20 points already for the Ducks
Halftime: Oregon 36 Arizona 33
2nd half
- Mannion finds Gettings in transition for a nice play and layup for the Wildcats; Pritchard with a layup on the other end to answer for the Ducks; Mannion hits Green and the Wildcats answer to make it a 1-point game; Mannion finds Smith wide open on the wing for a 3-pointer; the Wildcats are slow to get back on defense and Chandler Lawson ties it up with an easy layup; Green answers right back with a layup for UA on the other end; Nnaji fouled in transition as he is shooting and he makes both free throws to give Arizona the slightest bit of breathing room; Koloko with a put-back dunk off a miss from Smith and the Wildcats have their largest lead of the game at 6 points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 46 Oregon 40 - 15:42]
- Pritchard takes it right to Smith in transition and gets him to fall down for an easy layup for the Ducks; Smith with another 3-pointer for the Wildcats and the lead is now up to 7 points for UA; Pritchard hits a contested 3-pointer from the corner and the lead is back down to 4 points for UA; Francis Okoro with a put back and the Ducks have cut it to a 2-point game [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 49 Oregon 47 - 11:50]
- Juiston catches a bad Pritchard miss and puts it in to tie the game at 49; Mannion hits a jumper from the corner for the Wildcats to put UA back on top by 2; Smith hits a his fourth 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up by 5 points; Chris Duarte is finally able to get something going as Arizona forgets to box him out and he makes an easy layup off a Pritchard miss; Gettings with a big rebound and put back off a miss from Mannion [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 56 Oregon 51 -7:56]
- Hazzard finds Mannion in transition and the Wildcats go back up by 7 after the layup; Richardson leaks out and gets a layup for the Ducks on the fast break; Pritchard takes it right at Mannion and gets a layup to cut the lead back to 3; Gettings left wide open and he hits a 3-pointer for the Wildcats; Pritchard hits a 3-pointer to answer for the Ducks and he now has a career-high 32 points; Mannion fouled shooting a 3-pointer but he only makes one of the free throws [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 62 Oregon 58 - 3:52]
- Gettings in the right spot at the right time again for Arizona and he gets another put-back bucket to push the UA lead to 6; Pritchard fouled and he hits both shots; Pritchard fouled and he hits both free throws with less than a minute left to play; Pritchard fouled again and he hits two more free throws to tie the game; Josh Green misses two free throws and the game is headed to overtime
End of regulation: Arizona 64 Oregon 64
OT
- Juiston hits for the Ducks on the first possession of overtime; Smith fouled and he hits one of two at the line; Pritchard to Juiston for a bucket and the Ducks go up by 3; Mannion passes on a 3-pointer to take it to the hoop and he gets the shot to fall; Juiston hits one of two from the line and the Ducks go up 2; Nnaji with a big basket and foul for a 3-point play and a UA lead; Justion having a strong overtime and he hits on a tough play in the lane to put Oregon back on top by 1; Smith with a floater in the lane to give Arizona the lead back; Juiston hits a layup for the Ducks
Final: Oregon 73 Arizona 72
It's an important game for both teams in the conference standings and it should be a fun one. As always I invite you all to join the conversation throughout the game as well as follow along for updates from the media section at McKale.
Pregame
- N'Faly Dante is not expected to play tonight for the Ducks. The freshman big man scored 10 points in the last meeting with UA but has been plagued by a knee injury over the last several weeks. He warmed up with the rest of the team against ASU, but tonight he is in sweats and didn't go through early warmups with the rest of the team.
Starters
1st half
- Payton Pritchard knocks down a 3-pointer to get the game going; Nico Mannion hits a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to answer; Pritchard with 5 early points after he hits a couple free throws for the Ducks; Pritchard with a strong take to the hoop against the Arizona defense and he gets the shot to fall to put Oregon up 4 after the Wildcats miss two shots right at the rim; Zeke Nnaji with a tough shot that he gets to fall plus he gets fouled and will shoot a free throw after the timeout [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 7 Arizona 5 - 15:53]
- Nnaji hits the free throw out of the timeout to make it a 1-point game; Nnaji connects on another layup as he cleans up a miss underneath to give UA its first lead; Shakir Juiston hits a corner 3-pointer for the Ducks to quiet the crowd a bit; Stone Gettings with a nice move and layup in the paint for UA to tie it back up; Dylan Smith fouled and he hits one of two from the line for the Wildcats to put UA up 1; Pritchard with 10 points now as he hits a 3-pointer just as the shot clock expires to put the Ducks back on top [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 13 Arizona 11 - 11:37]
- Max Hazzard hits a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up; Will Richardson hits a tough layup for the Ducks; Hazzard rattles home another 3-pointer off an OOB play; Anthony Mathis answers quickly on the other end with a 3-pointer of his own; Josh Green with a tough take to the hoop and he gives Arizona back the lead; Nnaji fouled and he hits one of two from the line; Pritchard ties it up at 20 with another jumper for the Ducks [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 20 Arizona 20 - 7:51]
- Nnaji fouled and he hits one of two free throws to put the Wildcats back on top; Mathis fouled by Mannion and he hits two free throws to put Oregon out in front again; Mathis with a 3-pointer on the other end after Gettings missed a layup. Smith with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats on the other end; Mathis is on fire and he hits another 3-pointer for the Ducks to put his team up 4; Mannion with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a 1-point game; Pritchard with a layup on three defenders; Smith answers for Arizona to make it a one-point lead once more [SCORE UPDATE: Oregon 30 Arizona 29 - 3:25]
- Green hits a corner 3-pointer to put the Wildcats up 2; Pritchard having a heck of a game and he hits a 3-pointer of his own on the other end to answer for the Ducks; Nnaji hits one of two from the line to tie it up at 33; Pritchard hits another 3-pointer and he has 20 points already for the Ducks
Halftime: Oregon 36 Arizona 33
2nd half
- Mannion finds Gettings in transition for a nice play and layup for the Wildcats; Pritchard with a layup on the other end to answer for the Ducks; Mannion hits Green and the Wildcats answer to make it a 1-point game; Mannion finds Smith wide open on the wing for a 3-pointer; the Wildcats are slow to get back on defense and Chandler Lawson ties it up with an easy layup; Green answers right back with a layup for UA on the other end; Nnaji fouled in transition as he is shooting and he makes both free throws to give Arizona the slightest bit of breathing room; Koloko with a put-back dunk off a miss from Smith and the Wildcats have their largest lead of the game at 6 points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 46 Oregon 40 - 15:42]
- Pritchard takes it right to Smith in transition and gets him to fall down for an easy layup for the Ducks; Smith with another 3-pointer for the Wildcats and the lead is now up to 7 points for UA; Pritchard hits a contested 3-pointer from the corner and the lead is back down to 4 points for UA; Francis Okoro with a put back and the Ducks have cut it to a 2-point game [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 49 Oregon 47 - 11:50]
- Juiston catches a bad Pritchard miss and puts it in to tie the game at 49; Mannion hits a jumper from the corner for the Wildcats to put UA back on top by 2; Smith hits a his fourth 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up by 5 points; Chris Duarte is finally able to get something going as Arizona forgets to box him out and he makes an easy layup off a Pritchard miss; Gettings with a big rebound and put back off a miss from Mannion [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 56 Oregon 51 -7:56]
- Hazzard finds Mannion in transition and the Wildcats go back up by 7 after the layup; Richardson leaks out and gets a layup for the Ducks on the fast break; Pritchard takes it right at Mannion and gets a layup to cut the lead back to 3; Gettings left wide open and he hits a 3-pointer for the Wildcats; Pritchard hits a 3-pointer to answer for the Ducks and he now has a career-high 32 points; Mannion fouled shooting a 3-pointer but he only makes one of the free throws [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 62 Oregon 58 - 3:52]
- Gettings in the right spot at the right time again for Arizona and he gets another put-back bucket to push the UA lead to 6; Pritchard fouled and he hits both shots; Pritchard fouled and he hits both free throws with less than a minute left to play; Pritchard fouled again and he hits two more free throws to tie the game; Josh Green misses two free throws and the game is headed to overtime
End of regulation: Arizona 64 Oregon 64
OT
- Juiston hits for the Ducks on the first possession of overtime; Smith fouled and he hits one of two at the line; Pritchard to Juiston for a bucket and the Ducks go up by 3; Mannion passes on a 3-pointer to take it to the hoop and he gets the shot to fall; Juiston hits one of two from the line and the Ducks go up 2; Nnaji with a big basket and foul for a 3-point play and a UA lead; Justion having a strong overtime and he hits on a tough play in the lane to put Oregon back on top by 1; Smith with a floater in the lane to give Arizona the lead back; Juiston hits a layup for the Ducks
Final: Oregon 73 Arizona 72
