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 The seventh-ranked Wildcats built an early lead and pulled away
to beat Oregon 80-62 in a Pac-12 game Thursday night.
Arizona (14-1, 2-0 Pac-12) never trailed against the Ducks, who in
the previous two seasons upset a top-10 Wildcats team at the
now-4-year-old arena. The Wildcats didn't play at the facility in
its first two seasons of use.
"This is a hard place to play," Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
"Obviously a fantastic arena, a tough crowd, but most of all (Oregon
is) a very good team. They're going to win a lot of games. We beat a
good team."
The Ducks weren't a match for Arizona, though. Guard T.J. McConnell
led the Wildcats with a career-high 21 points, and four teammates
also scored in double figures, including center Kaleb Tarczewski,
who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
"I've got to give all the credit to my teammates (for setting
screens) that got me open," McConnell said after shooting 9-for-14
from the field. "As a player, if you see shots go in, you're going
to keep shooting. I was just letting the game come to me."
 Guard Joe Young led the Ducks with 12 points, but the Wildcats
hounded Oregon's top scorer into 4-of-15 shooting from the field.
Oregon (11-4, 1-1) made only 35.7 percent of its field-goal
attempts, including just four of 20 3-point attempts.
"Ball movement was not good," Ducks coach Dana Altman said of his
team's offensive struggles, which led to Oregon's lowest point total
of the season. "We got out of whack. We had a lot of bad offensive
possessions
"We're going to have to get some threes. We did have some looks. ...
I thought we took some quick ones in the first half and got out of
rhythm. But there were some looks in the second half that we really
could've gotten a run going."
Arizona rebuffed several rallies by the Ducks and started to pull
away for good early in the second half with a 7-0 spurt that upped
the lead to 50-37. The last four points in that mini-run came on
free throws on the same possession, two by forward Rondae
Hollis-Jefferson when he was fouled and two by guard Gabe York after
a technical called on Young.
Fouls kept mounting for the Ducks, and the Wildcats converted free
throws, making 20 of their 26 attempts in the second half and
finishing with 24 made free throws to Oregon's 18. Wildcats freshman
forward Stanley Johnson made eight of his 10 free throws in scoring
14 points.
"We were being aggressive on offense, and whenever that happens,
we're going to get to the line," Tarczewski said. "We've been
emphasizing in practice getting to the line and making free throws."
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Arizona scored the game's first eight points, and that early spurt
allowed the Wildcats to hold the lead right up to a 39-34 halftime
advantage.
Oregon had immediate problems matching up with Arizona's size, and
the 7-foot Tarczewski scored 10 points in the opening 20 minutes on
5-of-6 shooting from the field. He also had seven rebounds in the
first half, two at the offensive end.
After the Wildcats upped their lead to 17-6, Oregon began fighting
back and a 3-pointer by freshman guard Casey Benson drew the Ducks
within 25-23 with six minutes left in the half. Arizona answered
with a run of eight consecutive points, helped by two Oregon
turnovers, to restore its lead.
The Wildcats finished the game with 15 second-chance points thanks
to 10 offensive rebounds. Arizona posted a 40-27 overall edge in
rebounds, a statistic Oregon dominated against previous opponents.
"We got outrebounded terribly," Altman said. "Their athleticism
really hurt us there."
NOTES: Oregon added 6-foot-10 freshman F Roman Sorkin to the roster
this week. A native of Belarus, the 18-year-old Sorkin is
immediately eligible after playing for the Israeli junior national
team the past two years, though he didn't get into the game
Thursday. ... Arizona is in the Associated Press Top 25 for the 49th
consecutive week, the past 29 in the top 10. ... Oregon senior G Joe
Young is one of three players nationally averaging at least 20
points, five rebounds and four assists. ... Oregon freshman F Jordan
Bell blocked three shots Thursday to tie the school's single-season
record of 51.
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