Arizona delivers dominant showing in road win over Oregon
Arizona responded to the disappointing loss to Oregon State, delivering a dominant performance on the road in a win over Pac-12-leading Oregon.
When the final whistle blew on Saturday, the score was 87-78 in favor of Arizona. In reality, the game was well out of hand for much of the second half with the Wildcats rolling behind Caleb Love’s ultra-efficient performance.
Love led all players with 36 points on 18 field goal attempts (12-for-18 shooting with 5 made 3-point field goals) and kept the Ducks off-balance all game long. Kylan Boswell, Keshad Johnson and Oumar Ballo also scored in double figures to pace Arizona.
The 3-point shooting of Love and the Wildcats was particularly a struggle for Oregon to defend. Arizona finished the game 10-for-19 (52.6%) from long range while Oregon finished the game 7-for-18 (38.9%) from behind the line.
30 BURGER. 🍔@caleb2love x @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/6WVibC65m8
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 28, 2024
Jermaine Couisnard led the Ducks with 20 points on 6-for-19 shooting while Nfaly Dante scored 19 points. However, Oregon also committed 14 turnovers and 18 fouls in addition to the struggles defensively.
The win by Arizona is a key one for the Pac-12 race as it ties the Wildcats with Oregon for the league lead with a 6-3 record in conference play. The win also gives Arizona the current tie-breaker and pole position in the conference. Arizona State (5-3), Colorado (6-4) and Washington State (6-4) are next in line in the Pac-12 standings.
The win also snaps a string of dominance for Dana Altman’s program over Arizona in Eugene. It is the first road win for the Wildcats at Oregon since 2015, snapping a 6-game losing streak in Eugene with the win per the FOX broadcast.