LAS VEGAS – Just a minute into Friday night's Pac-12 tournament semifinal, Oregon saw its two-time all-conference center fall hard to the ground and leave the game. Then the Ducks were trailing by 14 points as No. 6 Arizona appeared to be on its way to another conference title game.
But N'Faly Dante returned to the game and Oregon shut out Arizona for a 67-59 victory over the top-seeded Wildcats.
Jackson Shelstad scored 21 points for the fourth-seeded Ducks, and Jermaine Couisnard scored 20.
“We had to keep believing,” Couisnard said. “We know it's going to come down to a close game.”
Dante added 14 points and 10 rebounds, overcoming that tough initial fall. He also blocked four shots.
Ducks coach Dana Altman said Dante had a bruise on his tailbone.
“Jermaine and Dante are our leaders and this resonates throughout the team because of them,” Altman said. “You always take on the personality… of your best players.”
The Ducks (22-11) advance to Saturday's championship game against Colorado, winning 58-52 over No. 22 Washington State in the other semifinal.
Arizona (25-8) will learn its spot and destination for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Wildcats, who were 11 1/2-point favorites according to ESPN Bet, were trying to become the first team to win three titles as Pac-12 champions since winning four in a row in 1988-90 and 2002. There were no conference tournaments. between 1991-2001.
Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Arizona in his 18th double-double this season. Pelle Larsson added 11 points, but Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love was held to six points on 2-of-11 shooting.
T-Mobile Arena has been nicknamed McKale North to Arizona fans, but the Wildcats suffered their first tournament loss in three seasons under coach Tommy Lloyd. They are 7-1 in the conference tournament and 10-2 under Lloyd in Las Vegas. The other loss in Las Vegas also occurred this season, a 96-95 setback in double overtime against then-No. 14 Florida Atlantic in December.
Oregon threatened to pull away in the second half, taking a 61-48 lead before Arizona responded with a nine-point run. Four points came on one possession: a blocking foul and a technical foul on the Ducks bench protesting the call.
But Arizona's recovery faltered from there.
The Wildcats appeared poised to blow the game open in the first half, going on an 11-point run to take a 27-13 lead with 6:52 left. They didn't make a basket again until 3:01 into the second half, a span of 9 minutes, 53 seconds, as Oregon baffled the Wildcats with a zone defense for much of that span.
That allowed the offense to finally rally as Oregon cut the deficit to five points early in the second half.
“As bad as we played, as disorganized as we were for five or six minutes, we were fortunate,” Altman said. “So to come out in the second half, we got off to a pretty good start. So I thought that was really important. Coaches always talk about the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, so critical that they are… In this game we really needed a good start in the second half.”
Arizona also had a 5:52 stretch in the second half without a basket.
Oregon almost lost Dante just 1:02 into the game. The cross fell to Ballo before the Arizona big man made a dunk for the Wildcats' first points. Dante, who missed 14 games this season due to injuries, was helped to the locker room. He returned with 7:41 left in the first half.
“That kid showed some character,” Lloyd said. “We had opportunities early to extend the lead and we didn't. And then we had opportunities in the second half to make a run and we didn't. So when you don't do it, that's the result.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
