Ducks, Beavers just miss in Arizona

Oregon State led 68-63 with 3:29 remaining at the last media timeout. “We had the chances in two or three and to credit their goalie, he played a great game and we just didn’t find a way to put it in the back of the net”.

OR should improve on its best-ever No. 8 ranking after midweek losses by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Texas if it beats No. 18 Arizona State for its ninth consecutive win.

“We needed something good to happen”, OR coach Dana Altman.

The Oregon Ducks (12-5) have split their last four games.

ASU had two early power plays, and after failing to get a much-needed goal or some momentum from its special teams, the game fell back into the River Hawks’ grasp.

Arizona dared to do what OR coach thought any team would be insane to try against his Ducks.

The next step comes Sunday when the Beavers host an Arizona team that has yet to win in the Pac-12 after the Wildcats (4-12, 0-5) lost at No. 8 OR 62-44 on Friday. He finished a season-worst 1 of 9 for four points, two assists and four turnovers.

“We talked about some of the stuff we’ve been going through, the losses and other things, and we came together as a team”, said Oregon’s Mikyle McIntosh, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

OR (16-2) shot a season-low.382 but held Arizona to.293 shooting – including a 2-of-18 stretch to open the second half.

The Ducks understandably came out flat after expending so much energy in their hard-fought upset over the Sun Devils, and it showed Saturday.

Robbi Ryan had 19 points to lead the Sun Devils (13-4, 4-1). Sam Thomas had 14 points to lead the Wildcats (4-12, 0-5).

“I am happy with our defensive effort”, Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

“For us it’s just reset and execute. just got to execute on the offensive side and trim up on some details in the d-zone”, Rowe said.

Arizona State is tied for the best defense in the Pac-12 with Oregon State allowing 56.3 points per game, and that defense will be put the test with the amount of weapons Oregon has at its disposal. As the Wildcats would begin to seemingly pull away, the Ducks would have an answer.

“It was a huge win, especially because OR is rolling right now”, Alkins said.

Senior guard Tra Holder is on the Wooden Award midseason watch list, a candidate for Pac-12 player of the year and the conference’s leading scorer. Oregon’s senior forward had 10 points in the Ducks’ previous 10 games, but had 11 in 8 minutes to help them build a 58-55 lead midway through the second half.

Don Coleman managed 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting. “So you know it just felt even more better, just seeing them that wanted me to break the record, so it was nice”.

Freshman guard Remy Martin has been a game-changer coming off the bench for the Sun Devils this season.

On the season, OR basketball averages 81.3 points, 38.4 rebounds and 15.4 assists per game. “So I thougth Parker was really our floor general and Allonzo played well”. For the most part, outside of those two pockets, we played some really good basketball.

Before Thursday, Arizona State was also undefeated potentially meaning the matchup against the Ducks would be an early battle for first place, but with the ASU loss OR can extend their stay in first with a victory over the Sundevils.

Sometimes a “hard-fought victory” can be an overplayed term used by coaches, but Saturday was certainly one of those for Arizona.