Arizona center Oumar Ballo pleads his case to the referee in No. 4 Oregon’s 67-59 upset win over No. 1 Arizona in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
Oregon senior center N’Faly Dante celebrates in the final seconds of a 67-59 upset win over No. 1 Arizona in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
Arizona sophomore guard Kylan Boswell pumps up the crowd in a pivotal moment of Oregon’s 67-59 upset win over No. 1 seed Arizona in the semifinals of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
No. 1 seed Arizona walks off the court after being stunned by No. 4 seed Oregon’s 14-point comeback 67-59 win in the semifinals of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
Oregon junior guard Jadrian Tracey celebrates after the Ducks completed the 14-point comeback 67-59 win in the semifinals of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
Arizona senior guard Caleb Love awaits a free throw in Oregon’s 67-59 upset win over No. 1 Arizona in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
LAS VEGAS – If the Arizona Wildcats planned to rinse the bitter taste of postseason defeat from last year’s early exit from the NCAA Tournament, coach Tommy Loyd’s team will have to wait.
The Pac-12 Conference’s top-seeded Wildcats were left stunned by the fourth-seeded Oregon Ducks 67-59 after a dominating defensive start in the 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Tournament semifinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Arizona (25-8 overall, 15-5 Pac-12) and Oregon (22-11, 12-8) met for the final time in the Pac-12 conference Friday, with the Wildcats suffering their first Pac-12 tournament loss in three seasons under Lloyd in the semifinals. The early exit comes nearly a year after exiting the NCAA Tournament in an upset to No. 15 Princeton as the No. 2 seed.
“We just didn’t get it done today. You’ve got to give Oregon credit,” said Lloyd, who has coached Arizona to a 7-1 mark in the Pac-12 tournament.
An electric atmosphere from the Wildcats fanbase sparked the team to a 14-point lead with less than two minutes to go in the first half behind 42% shooting from the field and 33% from beyond the arc.
Oregon’s rocky start came after one of its best players, center N’Faly Dante, left within the first minute of the game following a hard fall over Arizona’s Oumar Ballo. Dante was helped to the locker room and then later checked back in the game with just under eight minutes to go in the first half.
Arizona used an 11-0 run to take a 27-13 lead with 6:52 remaining in the half. The Ducks shot 33% from the field and went 1-of-12 from downtown in the first half but managed to cut the deficit to 10 going at halftime.
“Kind of lost our composure in the first half when Dante went down,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said after the win. “And he went down in the second, third play of the game. And we did lose our composure, had some bad turnovers, and took some quick shots.”
The Ducks stormed out of the second half to cut the Wildcats’ lead to five to start the second half, thanks in part to Jackson Shelstad and Jermaine Couisnard. Shelstad finished with 21 points, while Couisard added 20 points.
The Oregon Ducks celebrate beating Arizona 67-59 and advancing to the championship round of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. (Photo by Dominic Contini/Cronkite News)
“As poorly as we played and as unorganized as we had them there for about five or six minutes, we were fortunate to be only down 10,” Altman said. “So to come out the second half, we got a pretty good start, I thought that was really important. Coaches always talk about the last four minutes of the first half, the first four minutes of the second half, how critical they are. In this particular game, we really needed a good start to the second half.”
Arizona gifted Oregon the ball with costly turnovers in the second half, allowing the game to drift away. The Wildcats stopped putting up shots, hitting a season-low on shot attempts by only putting up 47.
“Coach gives us a lot of freedom, and we’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Wildcats guard Jadan Bradley said. “Turnovers we have to limit those to help us win games for more possessions on offense.”
Caleb Love, who was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year four days ago, struggled while shooting 2-for-11 from the field and finishing with six points. In the previous matchups against Oregon, he scored 36 and 22 points.
“We love that guy. And he (Love) just hasn’t played well,” Lloyd said. “The one thing I know about him is he’s a high character, he’s tough, he’s a fighter. And I expect him to come back in full force next week.”
Ballo led the team with 14 points and 12 rebounds for his 18th double-double this season. However, he didn’t see the ball in the second half or make a single-shot attempt.
The loss leaves the Wildcats on hold for their seeding and destination in the NCAA Tournament, which will be revealed Sunday. Meanwhile, Oregon is set to play Colorado in the Pac-12 title game Saturday night.
“You play the hand you’re dealt. And obviously, we would have loved to have win today and win tomorrow. But that didn’t happen,” Lloyd said. “So we’re going to go back and take a look at things. And I love this group of guys. We’ve had an amazing journey together, and I’m expecting the best times are ahead.”
