MENS BASKETBALL

Arizona 103, Oregon 83

JOHN MARSHALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TUCSON, Ariz. - Caleb Love scored 22 points, Oumar Ballo had his ninth straight double-double and No. 6 Arizona closed out the Pac-12 era at McKale Center with a 103-83 beatdown of Oregon.

The Wildcats (23-6, 14-4) honored their five seniors in a pregame ceremony and rode the good vibes to a dominating start against the Ducks (19-10, 11-7).

Keyed by Love and then Kylan Boswell, Arizona had a 17-point lead by the midpoint of the first half and didn’t let off the gas. The Wildcats shot 61% overall, went 14 for 25 from 3 and had 27 assists on 39 made field goals to finish the season 15-1 at home.

Ballo had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Arizona’s longest double-double streak at Arizona since Al Fleming had 10 straight during the 1974-75 season. Seniors Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson had 22 and 21 points, respectively.

Jermaine Couisnard scored 33 of his 39 points in the second half and Oregon shot 52% in its final Pac-12 road game. The output was nowhere near good enough against an Arizona team hitting on all offensive cylinders at home.

Love had a massive game in the teams’ first meeting, tying the Matthew Knight Arena record with 36 points in Arizona’s 87-78 win.

The North Carolina transfer got off to a stellar start to cap off the final home game of his lone season in the desert.

Love started off with a pair of floaters in the lane and had seven straight points during an early 12-2 Arizona run. Boswell took it from there, scoring seven straight points during a 12-0 run that put the Wildcats up 29-12. Boswell added a 3 from near the “A” logo and Love brought the crowd to its feet with an alley-oop to Johnson that put Arizona up 48-25.

Boswell set his career high with 19 points by halftime, Love added 12 and the Wildcats hit 20 of 31 shots — 8 for 11 from 3 — to lead 51-30.

Oregon was far better offensively to start the second half, hitting nine of 10 shots at one point. The Ducks shot 22 of 33 in the second half, yet couldn’t get the lead under 15.

Love had the exclamation point to the final home game revelry with a tomahawk dunk that put the Wildcats up 94-67.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon: The Ducks ran into a buzzsaw in the desert, putting a small dent in their NCAA Tournament hopes.

Arizona: The Wildcats have been one of the nation’s top scoring teams all season and had it in high gear all afternoon in their final home game before heading to the Big 12 next season.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Arizona athletics press release

March 2, 2024