Caleb Love scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half and made several vital plays down the stretch to help fourth-seeded Arizona put away fifth-seeded Oregon 87-83 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night in Seattle.
Love shot 6-for-7 with four 3-pointers in the second half and scored 10 straight Arizona points in crunch time to ensure the Wildcats (24-12) would beat their former Pac-12 rivals. They will face No. 1 Duke in the East Region semifinals on Thursday.
Tobe Awaka collected 12 points and 14 rebounds for Arizona, which reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years under coach Tommy Lloyd. KJ Lewis, Anthony Dell’Orso and Jaden Bradley all finished with 12 points as well.
Jackson Shelstad led Oregon (25-10) with 25 points, TJ Bamba had 17 and Nate Bittle paired 16 points with 11 boards. The Ducks squandered a 19-4 head start, fell behind before halftime and could not land the final blow after making it a one-possession game again.
Love stormed in for a dunk with 2:37 left for a seven-point lead, and he added a trey to make it 80-73, but the Ducks weren’t done.
Arizona attempted and fumbled an alley-oop dunk and Oregon quickly took it the other way for a 3-pointer by Keeshawn Barthelemy. Arizona big man Henri Veesaar missed two free throws, and Bittle cut the deficit to two on a hook shot with 49 seconds left.
The teams played free throw cat-and-mouse the rest of the way. Oregon twice got within one point, but Bradley, Dell’Orso and Love went a combined 7-for-8 at the line in the final 21 seconds.
After Arizona led 42-38 at intermission, Awaka made two buckets early in the second half, and Love and Dell’Orso combined on an 8-0 run to give Arizona a 54-43 cushion. Awaka scored one more time before picking up his third foul and subbing out.
Oregon took advantage and clawed back, drawing within 56-52 on Shelstad’s third 3-pointer with 14:18 to play.
Awaka got his fourth foul at the 8:40 mark and exited again, and Oregon twice pulled within three points before Shelstad made a long 2-pointer that cut it to 72-70. Love answered by drilling a trey on the next possession, starting his personal run.
