Arizona’s loss to Oregon showed what can go right and wrong for the Wildcats in March

Arizona’s 95-89 overtime loss to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament was a telling display for what can go right and wrong for the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament.

Like most teams, Arizona’s chances in the tournament will likely be decided more on Selection Sunday than with their play on the court.

Arizona played against a version of their past teams Friday. Oregon’s athletes were all over the place on both ends wreaking havoc, finishing with 10 steals and 11 blocks.

Both 6-foot-6, 205-pound Elgin Cook and 6-foot-6, 225-pound Dillion Brooks are nightmare matchups for the frail Wildcats.

Allonzo Trier (190 pounds), Gabe York (185 pounds) and power forward Ryan Anderson (230 pounds) were outmatched all night by the speed and power of Cook, Brooks and other Ducks wings.

That group limited Trier and York.

York was 3-of-14 from the field before finishing 4-of-6 the rest of the game. The agility on the Ducks perimeter defense had him uncomfortable shooting the ball and when he couldn’t catch and shoot, York was a disaster putting the ball on the deck with six turnovers.

Trier fared better, finishing 5-of-10 and still getting to the line, but Brooks cut him off several times when he tried to attack the basket and his urgency was too much at times.

Even with Trier’s tremendous strides forward on defense this season, he struggled. Brooks, Cook and even guard Tyler Dorsey were bigger, stronger and faster. The Oregon trio combined for 60 points.

Scoring threats on the perimeter have killed the Wildcats all season and if they run into a primetime player outside next week they are in serious trouble.

The mismatch extended to Anderson down low, who even with a three-to-four inch height advantage on most of his defenders, could not overcome the strength and bounce of the Oregon wings. He finished the game 2-of-13 and his inefficiency forced head coach Sean Miller to go small to close out the game.

That’s the opposite of what Arizona wants to do with Anderson, Kaleb Tarczewski, Dusan Ristic and Chance Comanche. A plus-13 rebounding advantage — including a ridiculous 27 offensive rebounds — showed how much Arizona’s size can swing a game.

The Wildcats want to come up against teams they have a size advantage against and despite Oregon being just that, the Ducks’ athleticism all over the floor overwhelmed their guards and they were unable to consistently get the ball down low.

Oregon’s aggression on the guards exposed how much Arizona misses former point guard T.J. McConnell. Kadeem Allen is the only guard in the rotation with the ability to create for both himself and his teammates.

York looked clueless when the defense was in the right spots, Trier forced his drives too often and Parker Jackson-Cartwright was selective in the way he attacked.

Allen finished with 14 points and four assists. His level of play is directly tied to the success of the Wildcats and if he plays like he did Saturday, they have a good chance against anyone.

Of course, there’s also the fact that Oregon shot 10-of-19 from three after entering the game shooting just under 34 percent on the season, quickly bringing flashbacks for Arizona fans of last year’s Elite 8 loss to Wisconsin, when the Badgers shot 12-of-18 from deep.

Despite losing for the second time this season against Oregon, it was a positive performance for Arizona. They went down to the wire with a better team that’s a terrifying matchup for their personnel and nearly overcame poor performances from two of their three best players.

If Arizona has the edge down low, avoids serious talent on the perimeter and plays the team basketball they did on both ends Friday, they could make yet another deep run in the tournament.

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