Arizona held on in the final minute after trailing 19-4 in the first half to beat Oregon 87-83 and advance to the Sweet 16 to play Duke on Thursday night in Newark, New Jersey. Arizona rallied to lead 42-38 at halftime and extended the lead to 54-43 early in the second half.
Oregon methodically chipped away and cut it to one twice in the last two minutes. Arizona led 80-73 when Caleb Love made a three-point shot with 2:01 remaining in the game. Keeshawn Barthelemy made a three for Oregon with 1:35 left, Nate Bittle scored with 49 seconds left to cut the deficit to 80-78.
After an Arizona timeout, Jaden Bradley turned the ball over on the sideline when he was trapped. T.J. Bamba missed a shot in the lane with 32 seconds remaining that would have tied the game. Bradley subsequently got fouled with 21 seconds left and split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 81-78.
Arizona forced Oregon star guard Jackson Shelstad off the three-point line and made him drive for a layup to cut the deficit to 81-80 with 10 seconds left. Shelstad fouled Anthony Dell'Orso with nine seconds remaining and he made both free throws to put Arizona in front 83-80.
Arizona chose to foul Shelstad who made both free throws to cut the deficit to 83-82. Dell'Orso hit another pair of clutch free throws with three seconds left to put Arizona up 85-82. Arizona fouled Shestad who made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second but the Wildcats secured the rebound.
Caleb Love made two free throws with two seconds remaining to put Arizona up 87-83 with two seconds left and secure the win. Love was sensational with 29 points on 10-18 from the floor, 5-7 on three-pointers and 4-4 from the free throw line with nine rebounds and four assists.
Tobe Awaka battled foul trouble and finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, Bradley, Dell'Orso and K.J. Lewis also contributed 12 points. Shelstad led Oregon with 25 points, Bamba scored 17 and center Nate Bittle had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Bittle struggled versus Awaka but was successful against Veesaar.