SEATTLE – The Wildcats faced off against a familiar foe in former Pac-12 rival Oregon on Sunday night with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line. As Tommy Lloyd would say, it was a knock-down-drag-out battle for 40 minutes. Arizona was down by 15 early, trailing Oregon 19-4 with 14:49 remaining in the first half, but rallied to outscore the Ducks 38-19, and take a 42-38 lead going into the half. Caleb Love put together another masterful performance, finishing with a game-high 29 points, leading the Wildcats to their third Sweet Sixteen in the last four season. Here are four key takeaways from the Arizona Wildcats’ 87-83 2nd Round win over the Oregon Ducks.
Caleb Love – The Duck Hunter:
Does Caleb Love have Oregon’s number? Maybe. After dropping a career-high (and Matthew Knight Arena high) 36 points at Oregon in Eugene last season, Caleb Love had a dominant performance on Sunday in Seattle. Love finished with a game-high 29 points shooting 10-18 from the field, including 5-7 from 3-point range. He also added nine rebounds, four assists, and a steal for good measure.
Love is now averaging 19.5 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while shooting 51.9 percent from the field, including 63.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Even when the Cats trailed early in the game, Love’s experience and leadership helped the Cats stay calm and collected, allowing them to claw back down the stretch:
“I was just telling my teammates in that run that they had, that’s the best punch they’ve got. Let’s keep coming, let’s keep coming. Let’s keep chipping away, chopping wood, and we’re going to be right there with them.”
After his impressive performance, KJ Lewis told AZ Band Cat Sports, “I think he likes duck hunting.”
Love’s response? “I guess you could call it that.”
Tommy Lloyd’s late-game coaching masterclass:
There were numerous moments throughout Sunday’s game where Tommy Lloyd’s poise as the leader of this Arizona squad helped the Wildcats not panic:
“We’ve really been talking about just kind of developing — I don’t want to say unemotional, but a real steady approach, zero-zero score, so-what-now-what-type mentality,” said Tommy Lloyd after the game. “These guys executed it to perfection today. To go down 14 or whatever we did early and then not panic and just realize how much time was left in the game and just to literally take a lead by halftime, that says something about this group.”
With under a minute to play, Nate Bittle brought the game within one-possession, scoring to make it an 80-78 game with 49.2 seconds remaining. Then, with 45.5 seconds left, Jaden Bradley turned the ball over on a badpass after getting trapped in the corner. But again, the Wildcats didn’t panic. After a quick bucket by Oregon, and two trips to the line for the Wildcats, Arizona led 83-80 with 9.5 seconds remaining.
That is when Tommy Lloyd strung together one of the best coaching performances we have seen from him this season. Up three with 5.7 seconds left, Jaden Bradley fouled Jackson Shelstad near the mid-court, before he was able to get a shot off. That forced him to the line, where knocked down both shots to bring it within one. But again, Tommy Lloyd and Co. never wavered. Two more free throws by Anthony Dell’Orso re-extended Arizona’s lead to three, and then it was Caleb Love’s time to foul before letting Oregon get a shot off.
By why does playing the foul game down the stretch matter? Arizona fans have seen plenty of games where the Wildcats are up three and elect to not foul, and it has cost them. Sunday night was different, and showed an evolution and growth in Tommy Lloyd’s game as a coach. He understands the stakes of the postseasons, and made sure that there was no way Oregon could hang around and spoil Arizona’s chances of a rematch with Duke.
Besides, it’s just like Jon Rothstein’s ‘3 rules to live by’, “ALWAYS foul up three late.”
Toughness of Tobe Awaka and Big 12 schedule helping prepare the Wildcats:
You know what they say, if you prepare well for an exam, it makes it that much easier once you get in to take the test. Arizona has said all week that the toughness of the Big 12 schedule has been tremendous preparation for the NCAA Tournament, and Sunday’s gritty performance against Oregon was no exception.
Tobe Awaka tallied his ninth double-double of the season, finishing the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds, including five boards on the offensive glass. While Awaka and the Wildcats did not necessarily contain Nate Bittle, who finished with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, Arizona did out-muscle him in key moments throughout the game, including a crucial rebound with 29 seconds remaining.
After the game, we caught up with Tobe on his double-double performance, who said, “It was just electric! We got off to a rough start, but at the end, my team just continued fighting back.”
Awaka added, “Honestly, it’s just thanks to Jesus Christ, thanks to God. He’s been with me through so many ups and downs, and I can’t thank him enough. It’s not the most popular answer, but I think it’s the truth. All thanks belongs to him.”
KJ Lewis added after the game that this did not feel like an old Pac-12 game, and that Arizona playing in the Big 12 and Oregon playing in the Big 10 made it feel more physical:
“I think it was kind of a little bit more physical. I think them going to the Big 10 and us going to the Big 12 kind of changed how physical we’ve got to be at as teams in the new conference, and I think you could see that. In the Pac-12, they would’ve called little tic tac fouls and tried to slow the game down with fouls. Credit to the refs for letting us play.”
Arizona will face 1-seed Duke in the Sweet Sixteen as it looks to avenge it’s 69-55 loss against the Blue Devils in November. The Wildcats, along with the Pride of Arizona Pep Band, and Cheer and Mascots, will be traveling straight from Seattle to Newark, New Jersey. Arizona’s Sweet Sixteen game tips on Thursday, March 29, at 6:39 PM MST on CBS.