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Arizona-Oregon game blog: Ducks hold on for win

Angelo Chol

Arizona's Angelo Chol shoots in the first half. Photo by Chris Morrison-USPRESSWIRE

Arizona comes up short in its final possession. Nick Johnson’s 3-point attempt is blocked out of bounds with 17.9 seconds left. Brendon Lavender — the hero of Thursday night’s game against Oregon State — then missed a 3-pointer, but Kyle Fogg tracked down the rebound with five seconds left.

Fogg drove the lane to get up a shot … but it rolled off as the buzzer sounded.

Oregon, which led by as many as 17 points in the second half, wins 59-57.

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Now it comes down to this: Garrett Sim missed the front end of a one-and-one, with Nick Johnson grabbing the rebound. Arizona ball with 26.0 seconds left, down 59-57. Solomon Hill time?

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Josiah Turner shoots an air ball from the right corner. No foul?

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Arizona, down two, gets a steal to set up a big possession with 49.7 seconds left. Oregon leads 59-57.

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Bad sequence for Arizona: Kyle Fogg misses after a spin in the lane as the shot clock is winding down … and then Garrett Sim buries a 3-pointer from the corner to give Oregon a 59-56 lead with 1:44 to go.

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Josiah Turner ties the game at 54 with a steal and dunk with 3:27 to play. Then, he gets credit for a block on Garrett Sim, who tries to get off a shot in the lane. Nick Johnson brings the ball quickly up court and is fouled while shooting.

He will be going to the line with 2:59 left with the chance to give Arizona its first lead of the game.

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A 7-0 run — fueled by a 3-pointer from Nick Johnson and a 17-footer from Johnson — brings Arizona within 54-52 with 3:55 to go. Yep, just like Sean Miller predicted — up for grabs with four minutes left. How do you finish?

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McKale Center crowd is edgy because of the score — 50-42 Oregon with 7:42 to go — and over a few (or more) calls that haven’t gone the Cats’ way. Coach Sean Miller has been saying that just about every Pac-12 game is going to be up for grabs with four minutes to go. This could be headed that way.

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More from Solo: His steal and fast-break dunk — plus the foul — has McKale going crazy. He makes the score 47-39, pending the free throw attempt with 11:31 to go.

Tweets Seth Davis of CBS: Solomon Hill is beastly. Singlehandedly taking over this game. Steal and dunk brings A-Z to within eight.

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Didn’t see that coming from Solomon Hill. He was 0-for-6 from 3-point range through four Pac-12 games, but found magic early in the second half against Oregon. He hit one, two, three 3-point shots to help cut a 17-point deficit to 45-37 with 13:17 to go.

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The crowd wants to get involved in this one as the Ducks expanded a 12-point halftime lead to as many as 17 before Solomon Hill drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 41-27. Nick Johnson energized the crowd with a big block from behind on a layup, but UA gave the ball right back on a turnover.

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Rich Rodriguez introduces his complete coaching staff at halftime, with new defensive coordinator receiving the biggest ovation. Rodriguez knows what he is doing, firing up the crowd at the end by talking about how hard they will work to get to the Rose Bowl and to beat that “school up north.”

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How’s this to sum up the first half: Arizona had nearly the same number of turnovers (10) as it does rebounds (11).

Oregon leads 34-22.

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Arizona getting out-worked on the glass, although backup center Angelo Chol has been active and could see more time than usual as the game goes on. The Ducks have a 15-8 rebounding edge and lead 30-22 with 3:11 to go in the half.

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The Arizona offense is streaky because it relies too much on the 3-point shot and doesn’t have a true go-to scorer in the post. When the jumpers aren’t falling, Arizona will struggle, as it did early against Oregon, trailing 21-15 with 6:57 to go in the first half.

The Ducks are playing good perimeter defense, denying the 3-point shot. UA has attempted only two shots from behind the arc, which is not the way it wants to play. The Arizona shooters don’t have enough “air space” — as former interim head coach Kevin O’Neill liked to say.

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Olu Asaholu comes off the bench for Oregon to hit seven quick points. Arizona fans might remember him from when he played in Mckale two seasons ago with Louisiana Tech. He had three points and seven rebounds before fouling out in 23 minutes.

His 3-pointer was the first of the season after he missed his other seven attempts.

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Jesse Perry putting on a good show so far, going inside for two early baskets and nearly pulling off a third as he was fouled. He’ll be going to the line after the TV timeout with 15:51 to go in the half. Oregon leads 7-6. All of Arizona’s baskets have come from near the rim — the kind of shot the Cats had trouble getting against taller Oregon State.

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If you’re following along on TV, you know what he is talking about: Tweets Jody Oehler of 1490-AM ESPN Tucson: “I know Phil Knight/Oregon have ton of dough but still mustve cost a pretty penny to clone 80′s Rod Stewart and cleverly rename him Singler.”

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Football coach Rich Rodriguez was working the crowd before the game, meeting and greeting fans. (Yeah, he really does work a crowd better than former coach Mike Stoops … but you probably knew that.) Rodriguez has about 16 football recruits on campus and at the basketball game.

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Oregon going with the all-black uniforms today. Arizona State also wore all-black in McKale against the Cats. Didn’t work out so well for the Devils.

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Arizona takes on Oregon this afternoon at McKale Center, which should be a slightly better matchup for the Cats than the last game against Oregon State.

The Ducks have some size — notably from 6-11 center Tony Woods — but doesn’t have the depth of height along the front line as the Beavers do. On the hand, Oregon is a solid team with a couple of nice 3-point shooters (Devoe Joseph and Garrett Sim), along with the all-around talents of E.J. Singler.

He averages 12.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Arizona’s edge is its defense, particularly along the perimeter. Here’s a good stat: The Cats have allowed four Pac-12 opponents to shoot just 22 percent (13 of 59) from 3-point range.

Today’s game is telecast on CBS, with Ian Eagle and former UNLV guard Greg Anthony on the call. On the other side of the court from Anthony will be ex-Cat and current radio analyst Matt Muehlebach. They were part of the epic 1989 game regional semifinal game, won by the Rebs.

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