Ducks lose in NCAA second round

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Watch: The Oregon men talk about the March Madness loss to Arizona

The Oregon Ducks fall to Arizona in the second round of March Madness in Seattle.

SEATTLE – Missed opportunities – and free throws – hindered Oregon on Sunday night.

They’ll haunt the Ducks for a while, as well.

“This one’s going to hurt for a long time,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman 20 minutes after the buzzer sounded on No. 5 Oregon’s season-ending 87-83 loss to No. 4 Arizona in the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena.

In a game that came down to the final seconds, Jackson Shelstad had 25 points, TJ Bamba 17 points, Nate Bittle 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kwame Evans Jr. six points and 10 rebounds.

But the Ducks also gave up a 15-point lead in the first half, were outrebounded 44-37 and shot a season-low 55% from the free-throw line as they made just 12 of 22 attempts.

And yet, it was still a two-point game after a jumper by Shelstad cut the Ducks’ deficit to 72-70 with 4:34 to play. But the Wildcats was able to answer every Oregon challenge in the final minutes.

Caleb Love scored seven straight for Arizona after Shelstad’s jumper, on two 3-pointers and a thunderous dunk to make it 80-73 with 2:01 to play.

But the Ducks weren’t done.

Oregon scored five straight on a 3-pointer by Keeshawn Barthelemy and a score inside by Bittle that made it 80-78 with 49 seconds left.

The Ducks forced a turnover on the inbounds play after Bittle’s score, but Bamba missed the potential score-tying drive with 32 seconds on the clock.

“I was good at finishing at the rim today,” Bamba said. “I just tried to make a play and unfortunately it didn’t go in.”

From there, Arizona scored seven of its final eight points from the free-throw line in the last 21 seconds as the Ducks kept fouling to stop the clock.

Oregon couldn’t maintain its hot start

The Ducks led 19-4 in the opening five minutes as Bittle, Shelstad and Brandon Angel hit 3-pointers, and an aggressive effort on defense led to seven points…

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Publish date : 2025-03-24 04:35:00

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