Oregon Ducks beat the Arizona Wildcats 64-57

It was a night to remember for the Ducks’ final game of the regular season at Matthew Night Arena. The Ducks had a sellout game with 12,364 people in attendance. It was the final minutes of the second half that won Oregon the game against the No. 3 Arizona. The Ducks ended their regular season on a seven-game winning streak—22-8 overall and 10-8 in Pac-12 play. Oregon beat the No. 3 Arizona Wildcats 64-57.

First Half

Oregon struggled during the first half of their matchup against the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. They managed to make their first basket in the first minute of the game; however, they weren’t able to make a second basket for another four minutes.

The Ducks were able to defend well but they struggled on the offensive end. Joseph Young, who is Oregon’s leading scorer with 18.6 ppg, went 2-7 in shooting and ended the first half with 5 points. Oregon’s second leading scorer Mike Moser, who averages 13.8 ppg, ended the half with 2 points.

Oregon shot a mere 34.8 percent in the first half compared to the Wildcats 50 percent but still managed to end the half trailing by just two.

Halftime

The Ducks trailed the Wildcats 29-31

Second Half

It took a good four minutes into the second half for the Ducks to get things started. However, they didn’t really do anything remarkable until the final minutes of the half.

Jason Calliste made sure that his last regular season game, as a Duck was memorable.

"If we lose it’s going to be on me because I’m going to shoot it regardless. I just put the team on my back basically," he said. He carried the Ducks to their victory on Saturday afternoon. Calliste’s fade-away with 4:22 remaining in the game gave them their first lead since the first minute of the game.

The Ducks had back-to-back 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the game. Calliste hit a 3-pointer that sent MKA roaring to their feet. Ben Carter, who had a stand out second half, tipped the ball to a wide-open Jonathan Loyd who hit the three and pushed the lead 59-51. "I knew it was money when it left my hands," said Loyd.

Coach Dana Altman gave a lot of credit to the sell out crowd for their turnaround in the second half. "We weren’t playing good. We had a lot of bad possessions. We weren’t playing that well and our crowd kept us in it and then we made a nice run the last 8 minutes," said Altman.

Oregon struggled on offense the majority of the matchup on Saturday; however, their defense, which usually gets all the heat, was very strong. Ben Carter made huge plays in the final half of the game. But Saturday’s victory was in the hands of the seniors. Joseph Young (3-12) and Damyean Dotson (0-5) didn’t shoot well during the matchup; however, the seniors stepped up and made the shots when they were needed.

Mike Moser, who only had two points in first half, secured a fourth straight double-double. He ended the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jason Calliste finished the game with 18 points. He went 4-5 from the three-point line. And Jonathan Loyd finished the game with 16 points.

The Ducks won the game 64-57. "We can be one of the best teams in the country too. No matter who you’re playing, it doesn’t matter what the name is on your chest. Just go out there and play," Calliste said of beating the No. 3 team.

Oregon plays in the Pac-12 tournament starting March 12^th.