Oregon Ducks vs Arizona Wildcats Box Score on Jan 17, 2019

Oregon forward Paul White scored 16 points as the Ducks defense smothered Arizona to hand the Wildcats a rare home loss, 59-54 Thursday night in Tucson, Ariz.

White hit 7 of 10 shots and pulled down five rebounds. Victor Bailey Jr. scored 13 points.

Oregon (11-6, 2-2 Pac-12) used a zone defense and full-court press to hold Arizona to 36.5 percent shooting, although the Wildcats made a late charge. Dylan Smith hit a 3-pointer with 1:24 to go to bring Arizona within 55-51.

Arizona had a chance to pull closer, but Brandon Williams missed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go. After two Oregon free throws, another Smith 3-point shot made it 57-54 with 4.2 seconds remaining. Oregon's Payton Pritchard hit free throws to seal the win.

Chase Jeter led the Wildcats with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Williams was the only other Arizona player in double-figure points with 10.

Arizona (13-5, 4-1) fell to 91-5 at McKale Center since the start of the 2013-14 season. Oregon has delivered two of those losses, also winning in January 2016, when it ended the Wildcats' 49-game home winning streak.

The Ducks, the prohibitive preseason favorite to win the Pac-12, have dealt with numerous injuries, including a season-ending foot injury to star freshman big man Bol Bol. Oregon did get back forward Kenny Wooten on Thursday after he missed four games because of a broken jaw.

Wooten, coming off the bench and wearing a facemask, finished with five points and seven rebounds.

Oregon missed its first seven 3-point attempts, but the Ducks got hot and took a 31-23 halftime lead, capped by Pritchard's last-second layup off his own steal.

Arizona played its first game without starting forward Emmanuel Akot, who left the team earlier this week, intending to stay in school and transfer at the end of the semester. The sophomore was averaging 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.

Ryan Luther, who began the season as the starter in that power forward spot, returned to the starting lineup. He scored four points, missing all five of his attempts from 3-point range.

--Field Level Media