As in so many last-possession, heart-sinking losses the last five years, Sean Miller said “it’s on me.”
Arizona’s coach has a long rap sheet for taking the rap.
Leaving Oregon’s Chris Duarte open for a winning 3-pointer? Is it on Miller, or on those who failed to put a hand in Duarte’s grille?
Failing to get an open look at the basket in the final 10 seconds? Was that Arizona’s bad coaching — insufficient X-and-O preparation and clock management — or did someone simply fail to execute the play properly?
“There’s no excuse,” said Miller. “You’ve got to win close games.”
Down the corridor at McKale Center, Oregon coach Dana Altman said something about it all “coming out in the wash.” But that no longer washes. After beating Arizona 63-61 in yet another Arizona-Oregon pressure cooker Saturday, the Ducks have won nine of the last 11 against the Wildcats.
Almost all of those games have been a basketball version of Russian roulette rather than unsound coaching. Last year, it was Arizona clanking four consecutive foul shots that could’ve won the game. On Saturday it was, frankly, Oregon getting lucky.
Altman said Duarte’s winning shot came after “the play broke down; we were trying to get it in the paint.”
Arizona’s defense broke down after someone double-teamed the wrong guy, leaving Duarte open. It took maybe 0.9 seconds for Oregon to go from loser to winner. And vice-versa for Arizona.
The most accurate observation in a game of inaccuracy is that the Ducks have been better than Arizona for the last five years. Hence their 9-2 record — the best streak against Arizona since UCLA and Oregon State both went 11-0 against the Wildcats from 1979-84.
It shouldn’t be much of a shock that Arizona couldn’t quite figure out how to beat the Ducks, couldn’t quite make one more play when it absolutely, positively had to make one more play.
The starting lineup that Oregon put on the floor Saturday had played a combined 346 games and 3,485 minutes of college basketball.
Arizona’s starting lineup had played 151 games and played 1,474 minutes.
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.
UA freshman guard Kerr Kriisa, who opened the game swishing three 3s, missed five of his last six 3s. In the first half, he looked more like Klay Kriisa than Kerr Kriisa. But the tension of a big-time college basketball game clearly affected Kriisa and Arizona’s Fab Freshmen down the stretch.
Yet it was Kriisa who might’ve offered the day’s best perspective. “I believe we can really make good damage next year,” he said. “I’m really excited for upcoming years.”
After an extended funk — no NCAA Tournament victories since 2017 — Kriisa and his young teammates who return in should be good enough to end their 2-9 slump against the Ducks next year.
Look at it this way: Oregon’s three most reliable players — seniors Duarte, Eugene Omoruyi and LJ Figueroa — will likely be in the G League or in the Euroleague or anywhere but McKale Center next season. And although Altman has shown that the Ducks don’t rebuild but rather reload, Arizona figures to be locked and loaded come November.
Arizona’s freshmen played exactly 100 minutes Saturday, or 50% of the total time. Oregon’s freshmen played 19 minutes.
If this comes off as excuse-making, it’s not my intention. If the Ducks were ever beatable, it was Saturday. They had only played four games since Jan. 9, and when they did return from COVID-19 issues, they lost at home to — gack! — Oregon State and Washington State.
So it figures that the Ducks are finally hitting their stride and will only get better between now and March.
Even without its ‘A’ game, Oregon was good enough to eliminate Arizona’s two strengths: rebounding and free-throw shooting. That’s coaching, yes, but mostly it’s quality personnel and experience.
The same Oregon State squad that somehow routed the Ducks 76-65 in Eugene’s Matthew Knight Arena a few weeks ago stepped into Arizona’s haymaker Thursday night. Arizona won the game at the foul line, muscling inside to outscore the Beavers 23-6. It dominated the rebounding game, 47-30.
But the more skilled Ducks didn’t commit unnecessary fouls. Arizona, the national leader in free throws made, only made eight. And the Ducks established themselves inside, outrebounding Arizona 38-30.
“That was the difference in the game,” said Altman. “They hadn’t been beat on the boards all year.”
Over the last five years, one of the changes in beating Arizona at McKale Center is that the Ducks no longer stage a locker room celebration. It used to be a “statement game.” It used to create headlines THIS BIG.
Instead, on Saturday Altman merely said, “Beating them is a compliment. It’s a tough out.”
Expect it to be much tougher the next time the Ducks walk out of that visitor’s locker room.
