No. 9 Arizona Basketball gets much needed win against Oregon

EUGENE, OR – Hoping to snap its six-game losing streak in Matthew Knight Arena, No. 9 Arizona Basketball (15-5, 6-3) outlasted Oregon (14-6, 6-3) behind Caleb Loves' 36 points.

Just days after losing to Oregon State in Corvallis on Thursday evening, No. 9 Arizona Basketball returned to the hardwood for a primetime matchup against Oregon on Saturday afternoon in what was virtually a must-win game for the Wildcats.

Riding a six-game losing streak at Matthew Knight Arena, Arizona would have a battle on its hands in this one!

Searching for its first, marquee road win in Pac-12 play, the Wildcats delivered, beating the host Ducks by an 87-78 final!

Led by Caleb Loves' 36 points, the senior transfer once again shined brightest on the big stage as the veteran guard helped fuel the Wildcats in this one.

Beyond him, Arizona got big contributions from Kylan Boswell (finished with 14 on 5-12 shooting), Keshad Johnson's 12 points and four rebounds, as well as Oumar Ballo's 10 points and nine rebounds.

Arizona's bench was a bit quieter in this one, finishing with just eight points, but luckily, the Wildcats just did enough to earn the win in this one!

Leading by seven at the break, No. 9 Arizona Basketball maintained control as the Wildcats came away with the statement win!

Hoping to see a different team than the one we saw on Thursday evening, Arizona looked every bit like a Top 10 team on Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats stormed out to an early 17-5 lead after Keshan Johnson hit a three with 16:34 to play in the first half.

Oregon would finally answer, responding with a 7-0 run, even cutting Arizona's lead to as little as four after Keeshawn Barthelemy connected on a three to make it 23-19.

Luckily, Oregon was never able to get closer in the first half as Arizona answered with a 14-4 run around the 5:02 mark to make it 45-31.

But after an emphatic dunk from Love to put the Cats up 14, the refs called a technical on Keshad for his celebration.

Unfortunately, the technical foul resulted in a seven-point swing for the Ducks as Jermaine Couisnard punctuated Oregon's 7-0 run with a 60+ foot heave at the buzzer that went in.

Leading by seven, Arizona would need to regain its momentum in the second half if they were going to come away with the win in this one.

Fortunately for us, the Wildcats did, starting the second half with a 7-1 run to make it 52-39 Arizona with 17:50 to play.

Oregon would continue to answer, cutting Arizona's lead to nine, but after another 6-0 run by the Cats, Arizona would lead 63-48 with 12:13 to go.

With foul trouble starting to creep up for a few Wildcats, luckily, Arizona was able to manage, eventually pushing its lead to as many as 16 before eventually cruising to the comfortable, 87-78 win in Eugene!

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 15-5 (6-3) on the year and will resume conference action on Thursday when they play host to Cal, followed by a rematch against Stanford on Sunday. Tip-off on against the Bears on Thursday is set for 6:30 PM MST and will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network. 

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