As far as Saturdays go, it couldn’t have gone much worse for the Oregon men’s basketball team.
Earlier in the day, the Ducks learned that forward Chris Boucher will miss the remainder of the season. Boucher suffered a torn ACL in the first half of Oregon’s Pac-12 Tournament semifinal game against Cal but played 12 minutes in the second half before being diagnosed with the news.
The Ducks still had to regroup for their biggest game of the year to date: a rematch with regular season co-champion Arizona. After falling behind as many as 14 points in the second half, the Ducks’ furious rally came up short in an 83-80 Arizona win.
Late Saturday, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi projected the loss will put the Ducks to the Midwest region of the NCAA Tournament bracket. The bracket is released on Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
In the first half, Dillon Brooks kept the Ducks within striking distance. The Pac-12 player of the year had 17 first-half points. His teammates combined for 12 points before intermission.
The second half was the Tyler Dorsey show. Dorsey — who scored just two points in the first half — kept Oregon alive in the second half, scoring 21 points.
“In the second half I felt that we got the flow of our offense going. I think we scored enough,” Dorsey told reporters after the game. “It came down to defensive stops, and we weren’t getting them. We weren’t buckling down.”
Brooks and Dorsey, for their play in the three tournament games, were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament team.
Jordan Bell was Oregon’s only post presence, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds. Dylan Ennis added 12 points while Kavell Bigby-Williams — Boucher’s backup — finished with three points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Arizona’s Allonzo Trier racked up 23 points in the Oregon loss.
“We never expected it to be easy when we walked in here tonight,” Trier said. “Oregon is a really good team, and they weren’t going to lay down and just let us walk away with a win.”
The Wildcats opened the second half on a 14-6 run to extend their lead to 49-35 with 15:23 to play. That’s when Oregon woke up and started to climb back into it.
Oregon cut the deficit to four, 68-64, with 5:25 to play when Bell scored and converted a free throw. Brooks knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:37 to play and made it a one-possession game.
The Wildcats overcame a 1-for-6 showing at the free throw line late for the win.
After the loss, Oregon head coach Dana Altman reflected on how Oregon will move forward without Boucher.
“Chris is a very talented young man, and he’s a big part of our team. I just feel really bad for Chris,” Altman said. “It was a big blow to our team this morning. We were all kind of down because he’s one of the most popular guys on the team. He’s the one guy that picks everybody up.”
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka
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