Arizona overcomes slow start to defeat Oregon and book spot in Sweet 16
Arizona rallied after its slow start for an 87-83 victory over Oregon in Seattle to advance to the Sweet 16.
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Arizona rallied after its slow start for an 87-83 victory over Oregon in Seattle to advance to the Sweet 16.
It was the 94th meeting between the two former conference foes (Arizona leads the all-time series, 56-38), but the first to take place in the NCAA Tournament.
The game was defined by huge momentum swings, but the Wildcats ultimately held on to book their 21st Sweet 16 appearance in school history. It is the first time since 2014-15 Arizona has advanced to the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons.
Oregon started the game on a 19-4 run as the Ducks took an early advantage off Arizona’s turnovers and porous defense.
The 15-point comeback is the second-largest comeback in the Tommy Lloyd era after Lloyd’s Wildcats came back from a 19-point deficit to beat UCLA last season.
“To go down 14 or whatever we did early and then not panic and just realize how much time was left in the game and just to literally take a lead by halftime, that says something about this group,” Lloyd told reporters after Sunday’s victory.
“Just tremendously proud of these guys and all three of ‘em individually. Tobe (Awaka), you know, he’s a beast, a double double in the first half. Henri (Veesaar’s) in foul trouble and those two become quite a duo. So Tobe had to carry a heavy load. (Anthony Dell’Orso) hit a big three, had a nice little shake.”
Oregon forward Brandon Angel scored the first five points of the game, and the Ducks started 4 of 6 from three. Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad got off to a hot start as well and had 12 points in the first half, but all 12 of those points came in the first eight minutes.
Shelstad finished the game with 25 points (on 9-for-14 shooting).
After Oregon’s offensive explosion to start, Arizona quickly improved its defense, which was spearheaded by Awaka.
In addition to its defensive effort, Arizona was finally able to get its offense going. Awaka finished with 12 points (on 6-for-8 shooting) and 14 rebounds, and Caleb Love had 29 points (on 10-for-18 shooting), nine rebounds and four assists.
“Us going down early, we never panicked, we never altered anything,” Love said. “I just think we were so poised throughout that whole game, and nobody was worried about anything but finishing out the game and winning the game.”
The Wildcats started 1 of 6 from the field but made four of their next six shots to trim Oregon’s lead to 26-14.
Arizona then went on an ensuing 9-0 run to cut the Oregon lead to 26-23 with 9:02 left in the first half. It was the first of two separate 9-0 runs Arizona went on in the first half.
Shelstad then ended a streak of nearly four minutes without a point for Oregon. The sophomore’s jumper ended a 13-2 Wildcats’ run but it was just moments later the Wildcats took their first lead at 32-31 on a Jaden Bradley layup with 4:48 left in the first.
The duo of Carter Bryant and Awaka proved to be key during Arizona’s runs in the first half as the pair forced turnovers that led to baskets on the other end.
Awaka’s rebounding pivotal for Arizona
Arizona also controlled the boards, creating second looks for the Wildcats. Awaka had a game-high 11 rebounds in the first half while the Ducks combined for 13 rebounds as a team.
The Wildcats finished with 47 rebounds to Oregon’s 37.
Awaka was called for a charge on Oregon big Nate Bittle, the second foul on Awaka, with Arizona up 35-33 with 3:43 left in the first half, but Lloyd left Awaka in the game.
Lloyd didn’t have many other options as Veesaar also picked up his second foul with 13:19 left in the first half. The two fouls limited Veesaar to just four minutes in the first half.
Lloyd’s move to leave Awaka in paid dividends as not only did Awaka not pick up a third foul in the first half, but Awaka kept Bittle quiet. The Oregon senior entered averaging 14.1 points but was held to just five points at the half, a testament to Awaka’s defense. He finished with 16 points as Awaka had to sit much of the second half due to being in foul trouble.
“I mean, just a credit to the coaching staff,” Awaka said when asked how he was able to contain Bittle. “They did a great job in terms of scout, knowing what he likes to do. I think on our part, me and Henri did a good job of sort of chesting him up, making his catches difficult.
“(Graduate Assistant Przemek Karnowski) earlier today did a great job of just sort of giving me the rundown of what he likes to do in the post, what his go-to move is, what his counter is, and things like that. So we had a great preparation during shoot-around and I think all that really helped in game.”
Arizona limited Oregon to only six made field goals of its final 21 to end the first half, including a 1 of 7 clip from three.
And the Wildcats came out blazing to start the second half.
Dell’Orso scored five straight points to put Arizona up 54-43 with 16:43 left. Arizona had an early 5-1 rebounding advantage in the second half as well, as Oregon was held without an assist until the 14:18 mark.
Dell’Orso is HEATING UP ♨️@ArizonaMBB looking to pull away in the 2H#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/3W2jyyaBXn
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Awaka in foul trouble keeps Oregon in the game
As dominant as Awaka was in the first half, he picked up his third foul with 15:43 left and subsequently picked up his fourth foul with 8:40 left, leaving Lloyd to opt to take Awaka out of the game down the stretch. Awaka did not return until 44 seconds remained in the game.
Veesaar also picked up his third foul with 13:01 to go and fourth foul with 4:34 to play, but Oregon was not able to take advantage at the line.
The Ducks shot a season-low 12 of 22 (54.5%) and could not make Arizona pay.
A Shelstad jumper with 4:34 to play pulled Oregon within two at 72-70. It marked Shelstad’s sixth 20-point game of the season.
But Arizona’s Caleb Love immediately went on a 5-0 run of his own to put the Wildcats up 77-70.
CALEB LOVE WITH A HUGE JAM IN CLUTCH TIME 😤#MarchMadness @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/R0L2fd6Nc4
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Oregon’s Keeshawn Barthelemy made a 3-point jumper with 1:35 left to pull Oregon within four at 80-76.
Veesaar then missed a pair of free throws with 1:20 left but Arizona retained possession.
Bittle then hit a hook shot with 49 seconds left to trim Arizona’s lead to 80-78.
BITTLE BRINGS OREGON TO WITHIN 2 🔥#MarchMadness @OregonMBB pic.twitter.com/3Lmuti1Z6J
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Oregon applied pressure as Arizona inbounded the ball, which saw Bradley trapped in the corner who turned the ball over, giving the Ducks a chance to tie or take the lead.
But Oregon’s TJ Bamba missed a jumper and the Ducks had to foul. Bradley split a pair of free throws, and despite not having any timeouts, the Ducks went for the quick two, as Shelstad connected on a layup with 10 seconds left to put Oregon down 81-80.
Oregon fouled again and Dell’Orso made both free throws to put Arizona up 83-80.
Lloyd opted to foul, not giving Oregon a chance at a game-tying effort. Shelstad made both and then fouled Dell’Orso who made both.
“But those free throws were huge,” Lloyd said. “You step into a game where you haven’t been playing much down the stretch and then do that.”
Lloyd then applied the same strategy and fouled again, not giving Oregon one final shot to send the game to overtime.
Shelstad split his free throws and Love later made a pair at the line to cement the win for Arizona to book a spot in the Sweet 16.
What time is the Arizona Wildcats game against the Duke Blue Devils?
No. 4 Arizona will play No. 1 Duke at 6:39 p.m. MST on Thursday on CBS in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The game will be played in Newark, New Jersey, at the Prudential Center, the home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
The winner of the Sweet 16 matchup between Arizona and Duke will play either No. 2 Alabama or No. 6 BYU in the Elite Eight on Saturday in New Jersey at a time TBD.
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Comments
32 Comments
Don't forget about Jayden Bradley. He played 39 out 40 minutes and is the glue guy that keeps everything together.
Tommy needs to clean up his coaching decisions, I, for the life of me, dont understand why Awaka who did get his 4th foul with 8 min left, but didnt re enter the game until 45 secs left. He should had been in the game at the very least at the 3min mark to break up the Oregon momentum. It also drives me nuts on how sloppy this team gets. Anyways, the up in coming Duke game should be a fun game since both team like to get up and down the court.
Lots of mental mistakes from UA last night, you gotta play nearly perfect to beat Duke Thursday and even that might be enough. Go Cats. How sweet it is