Oregon edges Arizona 73-72 at McKale

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


During the final eight minutes and 31 seconds of play, the Arizona Wildcats made just three field goals, missed 5 of 7 attempts from the foul line and ended up losing to 14th-ranked Oregon 73-72 tonight at McKale Center.

It was quite a day for college basketball, nationally and in the Pac-12 Conference, as Baylor, the No. 1 team in the nation, lost to No. 3 Kansas, while 4th-ranked, and previously unbeaten San Diego State lost its first game of the season to UNLV and if that wasn't enough of a shock to the college basketball world, 2nd-ranked Gonzaga falls to BYU.

Add to that a win by the Sun Devils in Tempe as Arizona State beats Oregon State to take over sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 Conference, while UCLA knocks off Colorado in Boulder.

Back at McKale, the Ducks and the Wildcats battled through regulation and a five-minute overtime to decide matters. With the score tied at 64-64, Josh Green was fouled with 2.0 seconds left in regulation, went to the line and missed both free throws.

Overtime would follow and Oregon took the lead  68-65 when Shakur Juiston made his second layup in overtime with 3:14 remaining, but Nico Mannion scored on a layup at the 2:49 mark to pull the Wildcats within one at 68-67. It was the Wildcats first field goal since Stone Gettings had scored on a put back with 3:31 left in regulation.

Fast forward to the one-minute mark in overtime, and Juiston tossed in another layup to give the Ducks a 71-70 lead. Arizona's Dylan Smith made a jumper with 34 seconds left to give the Wildcats the lead at 72-71, but Juiston would follow with his fourth layup in overtime with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.

A desperate full court pass by Jemarl Baker Jr. fell into the hands of Wildcat freshman Christian Koloko, who tried to toss in the game-winner, but was fouled by Payton Pritchard.

With 1.0 second remaining, Koloko went to the line and missed both free throws and Oregon escaped town with another win over the Wildcats.

Smith finished with 18 points to lead the Wildcats. Zeke Nnaji and Mannion ended up with 13 points apiece, while Gettings scored 11 and Green scored nine points.

All in all, a good night for Arizona State (19-8) as the Sun Devils sit atop the Pac-12 Conference at 10-4, while UCLA (17-11), Colorado (21-7) and Oregon (21-7) sit at 10-5 and Arizona falls to 19-8 overall and 9-5 in conference play.