Written by Yaniv Horenstein. Audio Story by Leo Schulhof. EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon men’s basketball faced No. 9 Arizona Wildcats in a Saturday afternoon showdown between two of the best teams in the Pac-12. Both teams came into this matchup with a 14-5 record, but Arizona has notable wins that solidify them in the top-10. There was a lot at stake in this matchup. The winner claims the top spot in the Pac-12. Oregon had never lost at home this season, and Arizona had never lost back-to-back games under head coach Tommy Lloyd. The atmosphere at Matthew Knight Arena was the loudest it has been since Payton Pritchard was on the team in 2020. The fans packed the stands, and the entire football team came to show their support as well. When Dan Lanning was shown on the big screen, the MKA fans made sure to show him their love. In the first half, Arizona got off to a hot start. They were knocking down shots from deep, going 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. They also dominated inside, as they’ve been known to do this season, scoring 22 points in the paint, compared to Oregon’s 14. N’Faly Dante was held to one rebound in the first half, but overall, the Ducks impressively kept the rebounding battle even at 15. This was a key going into the game, as Arizona averaged almost nine more rebounds than Oregon on the season. Oregon’s 12 turnovers were the story of the first half, as the Ducks were uncharacteristically sloppy and not taking care of the ball. This allowed Arizona to get some easy buckets, scoring 14 points off turnovers. Luckily, Oregon closed the half on a 7-0 run, ending with a buzzer beating, three-quarters court launch from Couisnard. Ducks went into the break trailing the Wildcats by seven, 45-38. Unfortunately, the momentum the Ducks carried into the break did not translate to the second half. Love continued his hot shooting for Arizona, and the Ducks were unable to match the Wildcats’ efficient scoring. Oregon shot under 40% from the field in the second half, and only hit one three until garbage time minutes. Meanwhile, Arizona shot 50% from the field in the second half, and 57% from deep. Unfortunately, this difference was too large for Oregon to overcome, and they ended up losing 87-78. To pile on the bad news, Oregon veteran guard, Keeshawn Barthelemy, suffered an extremely serious ankle injury that had him exit the game immediately. Couisnard was the one of the few players attempting to keep Oregon in the game. Couisnard scored well in the second half but was inefficient, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting. N’Faly Dante had a solid night, ending the game with 19 points on 8-of-11 from the field. The next highest scorer for the Ducks was Kario Oquendo with 13 points, all of which came in the second half. Oregon had some positive takeaways from the game when it comes to hustle stats. They kept the rebounding battle close, only losing it by one, 34 to 33. They limited the number of turnovers in the second half to two, finishing the game with 14. Oregon recorded six blocks, and six steals. Evans Jr. and Dante had two blocks each, and Evans Jr. also had two steals. Unfortunately for Oregon, they struggled inside on both ends of the floor. The Ducks went 8-for-20 on layups, not capitalizing on high quality shots. On defense, when they needed stops, they couldn’t get them without fouling. Some of the calls may have been questionable, but the Ducks simply didn’t execute. As coach Dana Altman said in his post-game press conference, the Ducks made “too many mistakes.” Oregon gave up 36 points to Caleb Love, and Arizona had four players in double-digit scoring. The Ducks lost their first game of the season at Matthew Knight Arena, falling to 14-6. Every game now matters more and more, as they continue to fight for a place in the March Madness tournament. The next matchup for Oregon is at USC, on Thursday, February 1st at 7:30 PM. https://soundcloud.com/kwva/mbbaudiostoryarizona?si=47b8858877254f8987ca12d7667512d2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing