Pac-12 men's basketball: Arizona Wildcats defeat Oregon Ducks in Eugene – The Register-Guard

After its successful start to the conference season, Oregon received a reality check on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona, despite a few missteps, is still the team to beat in the Pac-12, and the Ducks couldn't come close to doing it in front of 12,364 fans at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon never led the ninth-ranked Wildcats and trailed by double digits for most of the second half in an 87-78 loss in men's basketball – its first loss in 11 home games this season and Arizona's first win in the Matthew Knight Arena since 2015.

“We made too many mistakes,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Defensive, offensive, training to beat a good team.”

The loss moved the Ducks (14-6, 6-3 Pac-12) into a tie for first place in the conference standings with the Wildcats (15-5, 6-3), who suffered a stunning loss to Oregon State in Corvallis on Thursday.

Oregon earned an impressive, confidence-building win over Arizona State on Thursday, but was simply no match for Arizona, which continued the Ducks' season-long trend of losing by 80 or more points. They are 1-6 in those games.

Jermaine Couisnard had 20 points, five assists and four rebounds, N'Faly Dante had 19 points and five rebounds and Kario Oquendo scored 13 points in the second half as the Ducks unsuccessfully tried to cut the Wildcats' lead and take on the leaders and rebounding team in the conference.

Arizona's Caleb Love sets the individual scoring record at Matthew Knight Arena

They just never could and Arizona's Caleb Love was a big reason why.

The transfer guard from North Carolina scored 36 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. He tied the Matthew Knight Arena individual points record set by Oregon's Joseph Young on November 13, 2013 against Western Carolina.

“Defensively, we won’t be successful if we allow so many easy baskets,” Altman said. “I mean, Love had a great game and he's a great player, but some of the looks we gave him were just way too easy.”

Love dominated in the first half as he scored 20 points on a variety of dunks, drives, 3-pointers and put-backs while going 8 of 13 from the field.

His fast-break jam gave the Wildcats a 45-31 lead with 1:09 left in the half, giving them their largest lead of the game at that point.

But the Ducks cut their deficit back to single digits by halftime with a 7-0 run in the final minute, capped by a half-court 3-pointer from Couisnard that increased the score to 45-38 , as the teams were on their way to their locker rooms.

That momentum was short-lived, however, as Arizona opened the second half with a 9-1 run to quickly make it 52-39 with 17:50 remaining.

Oregon's offense struggled in the first 16 minutes of the second half, making just seven of its first 24 field attempts and none of its five 3-point attempts. In the final four minutes, after trailing 78-63, the Ducks finally got going, shooting 6-9 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range.

Overall, Arizona outscored Oregon 49% to 45%, making 10 of 19 3-point shots for the Ducks on 7 of 18.

“Really disappointed,” Altman said. “Really disappointed we didn’t prepare them better. … Just too many mistakes, from the players and from me, to beat a good team.”

Keeshawn Barthelemy appears to be suffering from a serious injury

The reserve senior guard was carried off the court early in the second half after being fouled by Arizona's Pelle Larsson on his way to the basket at the 15:57 mark.

Barthelemy appeared to have injured his right ankle during the landing. Oregon's medical staff and Altman immediately rushed to help Barthelemy while several of his teammates turned away. Paramedics brought a stretcher onto the field, but Barthelemy was instead carried to the locker room by two Oregon team members.

Immediately after the game, Altman said Barthelemy was still in the hospital for tests, but “it didn't look good.”

The Ducks trailed 54-45 at the time of the injury and Barthelemy had seven points on 2-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and one assist.

“He played really well and had some flow,” Altman said. “It's really sad.”

What's next for Oregon?

The Ducks are in Los Angeles this week for games against Southern California and UCLA. They play the Trojans at Galen Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. They play the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

“We’ll just try to regroup tomorrow,” Altman said. “We're going to the schools in LA this week so obviously it's a big road trip and we have to play well. … Basketball season is a long season with many ups and downs. That’s a big downer.”, so they have to defend themselves. But we are all measured by how we overcome adversity. When times are good, everyone does well, when times are bad, you have to find a way to get back on your feet.”

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