Oregon Ducks Fall to Arizona in Pac-12 Tournament Championship
Joseph Young scored the first five points on the night for the Oregon Ducks and Dana Altman saw his team fall behind early against Arizona in the Pac-12 Title Game on Saturday night. Just before the end of the first half the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run and Oregon would never recover. Young had nineteen points on the night, but the team could not compete on the boards being out rebounded 37-20 on the night.
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Altman has known all season that the biggest weakness for the Oregon Ducks was facing big competition, not necessarily when it came to importance, but when it came to size. In making a deep run in the Conference Tournament and beating Utah and Colorado, Oregon had done enough this season to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. The Ducks saw their seven game winning streak snapped by the Wildcats, but the team has still won twelve of their last fourteen games and anyway you slice it, that is pretty impressive.
Young has been the team leader down the stretch and has averaged better than twenty points per game in those fourteen games, including key shots and a final three point shot win to beat Utah from Friday night. With the work they have put in Oregon will likely make their third NCAA Tournament appearance in a row and could, I believe, be seeded as high as sixth with the work they have done this season.
What stands out is a team that did not give up and could have thrown in the towel after losing to Arizona on the road a few months ago. Oregon has found chemistry and put together not only a winning streak, but also some excitement down the stretch. Their season schedule includes key wins at Illinios and Arizona State, not to mention the road wins at Cal and Stanford the final week which had not been done since 1976.
We will find out on Sunday afternoon at 3pm Pacific Time where and who Oregon will play.