Oregon holds off Arizona for rare desert sweep

TUCSON, Ariz. — Victories at Arizona don’t happen often for Oregon. The desert sweep accomplished by the Ducks on Saturday is rarer still.

Garrett Sim scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:46 to play, and the Ducks held off the Wildcats 59-57 to complete just their second sweep at Arizona and Arizona State since the Arizona schools joined what is now the Pac-12 33 years ago.

“This feels amazing,” Sim said. “I’m so proud of this team.”

Arizona (12-6, 3-2) rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to lead 56-54 on Nick Johnson’s two free throws with 2:59 left. But E.J. Singler made an inside basket to tie it, then Sim sank his big shot as he fell to the court in front of his team’s bench, putting the Ducks (13-5, 4-2) up permanently.

Arizona’s Brendon Lavender missed a 3-pointer in the waning seconds. Teammate Kyle Fogg grabbed the rebound but missed a short jumper as time expired.

It was Fogg’s eighth miss in nine attempts for the game as Oregon shut down the Wildcats’ perimeter offense most of the afternoon.

Arizona coach Sean Miller severely criticized the effort by his team through the first half and early in the second.

“If you look at the rebounding numbers through about 24 minutes, we were overwhelmed. It was men against boys,” he said. “If you want to give our team any credit, we certainly fought back and had a chance to win, but the hole that we dug was a lot about our effort, concentration and readiness. We just didn’t have it.”

Devoe Joseph and Olu Ashaolu scored 13 apiece for the Ducks. Solomon Hill scored 16 and Josiah Turner 11 for the Wildcats, who lost at home for only the second time in 11 games. The other was to San Diego State.

“This was a huge game, and a big win,” said Singler, one of Oregon’s five seniors. “I haven’t been able to win here since I’ve been a Duck. This was a great atmosphere and a great win for both the team and the program.”

The only other time the Ducks won at Arizona and Arizona State was in 2006-07, when Oregon opened the season 18-1. Ducks coach Dana Altman, a man of few words, was not about to overreact, however.

“A win is a win in this league,” he said. “We traditionally haven’t done well here. We are not hitting on all cylinders. We played good but I know we can play great.”

Oregon will not get the opportunity to repeat the feat next season because the Ducks don’t play the Arizona schools.

Johnson and Turner, both freshmen, scored all of the points in the 11-0 run that gave Arizona its only lead since it was 2-0 on Jesse Perry’s layup to start the game.

Singler made both shots of a one-and-one to put Oregon ahead 54-45 with 5:57 left when Johnson, scoreless up to that point, sank a 3-pointer to start the Wildcats’ rally. Turner made a layup, then Johnson a mid-range jumper to cut it to 54-52 with 3:55 left. On Oregon’s next possession, Turner stripped the ball from Joseph for a breakaway dunk that tied the game at 54-all with 3:25 remaining.

Turner blocked Joseph’s shot, then Johnson was fouled and made both free throws to put Arizona up 56-54 with 2:59 to play.

After Sim put Oregon back on top, Turner made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 59-57 with 1:25 to go. Ashaolu fouled out on the play.

In the hectic final seconds, Turner’s 3-pointer from the corner sailed far over the rim, but Sim, an 85 percent free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 29.9 seconds remaining to give Arizona its final shots.

Oregon, up 34-22 at the half, opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt to go ahead 41-24 on Sim’s 3-pointer with 17½ minutes remaining.

“We waited for something to happen instead of actually going to do it,” Johnson said. “I think that’s what happened in the first half when we got off to another slow start.”

Hill made consecutive 3-pointers, then stole the ball from Sim for a breakaway dunk, a three-point play that cut it to 47-40 with 11:31 remaining.

“It’s a funny feeling losing here,” said Hill, a junior. “I (haven’t) lost a conference game here since my freshman year. Coach said it; he it in on a nail. We didn’t deserve to win (this) game.”