Oregon drops game to Arizona 87-78, struggles to find momentum

It was a game that meant a lot to both teams and Oregon would need to play well. Arizona came into the game ranked but with a loss already this week against Oregon State. The hot hand of Caleb Love opened the scoring with a three-pointer.  

N’Faly Dante started just his sixth game of the season and did not look sharp in the opening minutes missing a mid-range shot and faltering on the defensive end allowing Arizona to go on an 8-0 run.  

Dante would work through the struggle taking the Ducks into halftime with 12 points along with a single rebound in the first 20 minutes of play.

Only one other player had double digits in scoring, Wildcat Caleb Williams who went into the break with 20 points.

The Ducks would find themselves down 45-38 at the break after a Jermaine Couisnard three from beyond half-court at the buzzer pulled the Ducks within single digits.  

Six minutes into the second half, Keeshawn Barthelemy went down hard on his right leg as he attempted a shot. He immediately went down on the floor and was carried off several minutes later with what looked like a lower body injury.

The Ducks would have to play the rest of the way without him.  

Arizona continued to find their shots as Jermaine Cousinard became a one man show on offense scoring 11 points in the first eleven minutes of the second half. Oregon was down 12 with just over eight minutes to go in the game.  

The game was a struggle for the Ducks. Each time they tried to get within single digits, Arizona had an answer to push it outside to a double-digit lead.  

The Wildcats would get the win 87-78 against an Oregon team that fought for 40 minutes. IT was the Ducks first loss at Matthew Knight Arena this season in close to a full house that included Dan Lanning and the Oregon football team. 

Oregon visits the LA schools starting with USC next Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN.