Offense sputters as Arizona falls to Oregon

Unbeaten no more.

Mystified by Oregon’s press and zone defense, the Arizona Wildcats were defeated 59-54 by the Ducks on Thursday, taking their first loss in conference play.

It is Arizona’s second time losing at home this season, and just its fifth time being beaten in McKale Center since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

The Wildcats (13-5, 4-1) shot 37 percent from the field and 6 for 22 from 3, while committing 14 turnovers to just nine assists.

Brandon Randolph was held under double figures for the first time this season, notching just five points on nine shots. Chase Jeter (12) and Brandon Williams (10) were the lone Wildcats in double figures.

Even Arizona’s free-throw shooting, a strength all season, evaded them, going 10 for 15 from the stripe. Jeter and Justin Coleman both missed the front end of one-and-ones when Arizona was mounting a late comeback.

The Ducks (11-6, 2-2) led by eight at half and extended their lead to 13 early in the second half. Arizona whittled it down to four with 2:06 left and then three with four seconds left, but Payton Pritchard iced the game with two free throws.

Oregon’s Paul White had a game-high 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Victor Bailey Jr. (13) and Louis King (10) also scored in double figures.

Oregon was not much better offensively, shooting just 39 percent, but it only had nine turnovers and went 7 for 17 from 3.

Arizona took an early 16-11 lead after back-to-back Jeter baskets, but Oregon responded with a 10-0 run to jump ahead 21-16, then White made UO’s fourth 3 of the period to extend it to 26-18 with 4:13 left.

Arizona briefly cut it to 26-23 after an and-one by Williams in transition, but Bailey hit a corner 3 then Pritchard stripped Coleman and went for a layup at the buzzer to boost the Ducks’ cushion to 31-23 heading into the locker room.

The Wildcats shot 30 percent in the first half, compiling more turnovers (9) than made field goals (8). Williams and Jeter each had six points in the period. Randolph went scoreless, only taking one shot.

King opened the second half with a 3 to put Oregon up by 11 and White later made his second 3 to push the lead to 13 with 13:52 left.

That came amidst a five-minute scoreless stretch for the Wildcats, who missed 11 of their first 12 shots to open the second half.

Ira Lee finally ended that stretch by cutting for a layup to make it 39-28. UO coach Dana Altman immediately called timeout to try to halt UA’s momentum, but Arizona made four of its next five shots, trimming the deficit to 45-40 after a thunderous slam by Lee, who also drew a foul and made the resulting free throw.

Jeter split a pair of free throws to make it 45-41, then scored underneath to make it 47-43 with six minutes to play.

But Pritchard answered with two free throws, King drew a charge on Ryan Luther on the other end, and White tipped in Bailey’s runner to extend Oregon’s lead back to eight with 4:13 left.

Coleman and Jeter missed the front end of a one-and-one on consecutive possessions, before Randolph drained a tough step-back 3 to cut the deficit to 52-48 with 2:06 left.

Bailey and Williams traded 3s before Pritchard rebounded his own miss over Jeter, allowing Oregon to bleed valuable seconds off the clock.

Arizona got the ball back with 28 seconds left, but Williams missed a deep 3, ending the comeback bid.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday against Oregon State. The Beavers, like Arizona, entered the night unbeaten in Pac-12 play.

This story will be updated.

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