Oregon comes agonizingly close to season-defining win, stumbles late at Arizona

Saturday was supposed to bring a final, unceremonious end to Oregon’s season.

Fresh off a blowout loss two days earlier that was arguably their worst of the season, the Ducks were double-digit underdogs as they headed to Tucson for a showdown with No. 3 Arizona. With their season already on life support, Saturday’s tilt with the top team in the Pac-12 figured to be the final nail in the coffin of their at-large tournament hopes.

And with the way the Ducks had been playing of late, securing a berth by winning the Pac-12 tournament seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream.

But Oregon rose to the occasion in the desert Saturday and delivered one of its best performances in recent memory, playing the Wildcats close down to the final minutes before falling 84-81 at the McKale Center.

A win might have saved Oregon’s season. Now, the Ducks can only hope that the bright performance provides a burst of momentum for the end of the regular season and the looming conference tournament that is now their only realistic avenue to the big dance.

“Our effort was good,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We played hard. They’re a talented basketball team. I told our guys the only thing I’m upset about is that we don’t play this hard all the time. Our fans have to be disappointed. We played to the level of the competition and just didn’t get it done.”

With the loss, Oregon falls to 17-10 on the season and 10-6 in Pac-12 play and is firmly cemented in fourth place in the conference standings.

Matchups with No. 13 UCLA and No. 17 USC, still remain on the Ducks’ schedule. They already defeated both teams on the road earlier this season, but picking up a pair of wins against top-25 opponents may still not be enough to push them back into the tournament picture.

“A couple bad plays late, but guys played hard,” Altman said. “Second half we had a couple opportunities to get a little gap and didn’t do it. So we just didn’t get it done.”

Will Richardson led the Ducks with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting. The star guard had a chance to tie the game on the final possession of regulation but he was unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer.

“We were looking for a ball-screen with him and (Quincy Guerrier),” Altman said. “We got the switch we wanted; I’m not sure why he didn’t pull the shot. It was either there, or pop it to Quincy for a quick three. I don’t know. Will just made a mistake.”

Oregon raced out to a 32-20 lead early thanks to a sensational opening half from Guerrier. The junior forward scored 12 points on his first four shots, including three three-pointers, to give the Ducks the hot start they needed.

But Arizona answered with a strong finish to the first half. The Wildcats uncorked a 10-0 run that was highlighted by a massive momentum-shifting three from Kerr Kriisa to climb back into contention. By halftime, they trailed Oregon just 47-45.

The Ducks kept their foot on the gas in the second half and began the period on a 7-2 run that featured a pivotal and-one from N’Faly Dante. But once again, Arizona answered with a run of its own. The Wildcats scored on three straight possessions to take a 55-54 lead that they eventually pushed to 60-54.

Oregon continued to chip away, though, and went basket for basket with the WIldcats for the next 14 minutes.

During that time, the two teams traded leads eight times.

But the Ducks were dealt an extra bit of adversity when Richardson was hit in the face on a personal foul by Bennedict Mathurin and began bleeding. He was forced to hit the bench for the next minute-and-a-half as Oregon’s trainers worked to stop the bleeding so that he could reenter the game.

Richardson returned with a 4:16 to go but did not score again.

The decisive play of the night came with 1:26 to go when Kriisa drilled a three-pointer to make it 79-76. Jacob Young answered with a steal that led to a layup two possessions later to make it 79-78 with 42.9 to go.

However, Arizona took care of business at the free throw line, and Oregon could not come up with enough answers on the offensive end. Guerrier drilled a long three-pointer with 15 seconds to go that cut the lead to 83-81, and Dalen Terry missed 1-of-2 on the ensuing trip to the free throw line, giving the Ducks one final chance.

But Arizona’s smothering defense on the final possession prevented Richardson, or any other Duck, from sending the game to overtime.

Oregon now has just four regular-season games remaining. It will host No. 13 UCLA Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena, and then will host No. 17 USC Saturday at 7 p.m.