Chris Duarte hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to give Oregon yet another razor-close win over Arizona, 63-61 at McKale Center on Saturday.

The loss was Arizona’s sixth straight to Oregon, dropping the Wildcats to 14-7 overall and 8-7 in the Pac-12. The Wildcats, who are scheduled to travel to UCLA and USC next week, still have a postponed game at Oregon (12-4, 7-3) that is yet to be rescheduled.

Oregon Ducks forward Eugene Omoruyi (2) takes the ball to the basket during a game against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center, on Feb. 13, 2021.

The two teams came to a finish that was all too typical for a series that produced two Oregon overtime wins last season, both of which were decided by just one point.

With 1:02 left, Oregon’s L.J. Figueroa hit a 3-pointer to give Oregon a 60-59 lead but Christian Koloko drew a foul on UA’s next possession and hit both ensuing free throws to put the Wildcats ahead by one.

Oregon’s Will Richardson and Duarte then passed back and forth, unable to find an open look, before Duarte got off a 3 that went in with 16 seconds left to give the Ducks a 63-61 lead. Duarte, Oregon’s leading scorer, had made only 3 of 13 shots and missed 6 of 7 threes before that point.

Duarte then fouled Bennedict Mathurin outside the perimeter, with the Wildcats not yet in a bonus situation, giving the Wildcats 1.1 seconds to run an out of bounds play. Kriisa received the ball at the top of the key and took an errant 3 as the buzzer sounded.

Arizona Wildcats guard Bennedict Mathurin (0) reaches for a rebound during a game against the Oregon Ducks at the McKale Center, on Feb. 13, 2021.

Duarte finished with 10 points while Eugene Omoruyi led the Ducks with 19 points and L.J. Figueroa had 13 points and six rebounds.

Azuolas Tubelis led Arizona with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Kerr Kriisa had 12 on 4 for 9 3-point shooting in his fourth game as a collegian.

The Wildcats shot just 38.6% from the field and were outrebounded, 38-30, for the first time all season.

Tied 34 at halftime, the game stayed within a possession for the first 12 minutes of the second half, with Tubelis scoring nine points over that stretch to keep Arizona in a 52-52 tie with 7:49 left.

The Wildcats tightened up defensively in the second half, allowing Oregon to shoot just 38.9% over the first 12 minutes.They also held Oregon leading scorer Duarte to just 1 of 8 shooting until Duarte hit a 3 with 8:53 left to give Oregon a 52-49 lead – before Tubelis followed with another 3 to tie it at 52.

Oregon Ducks guard Chris Duarte (5) lays on the floor during a game against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center, on Feb. 13, 2021.

The teams were still separated by just three points, 57-54, entering the final four minutes after Will Richardson drove inside for Oregon. Arizona had made just 7 of 22 shots in the half at that point, several of them inside drives they could not finish.

But the Ducks were called for traveling on two straight possessions, and James Akinjo cut to the left wing to catch and shoot a 3 pointer that gave UA a 59-57 lead with 1:57 left.

In the first half, Arizona hit 6 of 13 3-pointers come back from an early 10-point deficit and pull into a 34-34 tie at halftime Saturday.

Kriisa and Tubelis each had nine points to lead the Wildcats in the half, with Kriisa hitting 3 of 4 3s and Tubelis making 2 of 4 from long range. The nine points was already a season high for Kriisa, who is playing in his fourth college game after becoming eligible on Feb. 4 at Utah.

Arizona battled back from up to a 10-point deficit midway through the half, getting two straight 3s from Tubelis against Oregon’s packed-in defense and, later, another unguarded corner 3 by Kriisa that cut the Ducks’ lead to 32-29.

Kriisa later tied it at 34 with another 3 with 1:11 left in the half.

Kerr Kriisa hit four 3-pointers in Saturday’s game against Oregon, but missed what would have been the game-winner.

Arizona wound up shooting 43.3% overall in the first half while Oregon shot 51.9% but made only 3 of 10 3-pointers. Eugene Omoruyi led all scorers in the half with 11 points.

But while the Wildcats have not been outrebounded all season in a game, the Ducks outrebounded them 18-15 in the first half Saturday.

The Wildcats struggled early in the half, trailing Oregon 11-2 four minutes into the game when they missed 4 of 5 shots and had two turnovers over the first four minutes of the game while struggling to defend the Ducks.

Things didn’t get much better for UA over the next segment. Although the Wildcats stopped Oregon on a shot-clock violation as Chris Duarte was unable to drive the baseline Oregon still took a 20-12 lead with 11:56 left, having shot 8 of 14 to that point and outrebounding the Wildcats 10-5.

UA coach Sean Miller was so displeased at that point that he broke a whiteboard during the ensuing timeout and emerged from the huddle throwing up his fist and UA trailed 22-12 after the timeout when Oregon’s Eugene Omoruyi scored.

The Wildcats were playing again without senior forward Ira Lee, who suffered an ankle injury in practice Wednesday.

Lee has been the fourth player rotating into the Wildcats' two post spots, but wasn't able to play Thursday against Oregon State and watched warmups Saturday in street clothes.

Lee wore a vintage Arizona 1997 Final Four shirt, in the style that injured guard Jemarl Baker has been wearing regularly since being lost for the season with a broken wrist.

The Wildcats wore red uniforms forΒ only the second time since their Dec. 19 loss to Stanford at Santa Cruz, Calif. Normally they wearΒ white at home and blue on the road, UA

The uniform was a late switch because Oregon showed up wearing uniforms primarily in light gray and officials said they were too close visually to UA's home whites.


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