Canzano: Oregon stuns Arizona in wild comeback
Ducks will play for Pac-12 Tournament title.
LAS VEGAS — I’m still not sure what I witnessed on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
It happened after dark.
It involved the Pac-12.
Do with that what you’d like.
It was Oregon 67, Arizona 59 in the semifinal of the men’s Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks pulled off a shocking comeback against a formidable opponent and advanced to Saturday’s championship game.
“One more,” Oregon players shouted to each other as they left the court.
Why not?
UO was finished a minute into the game, after all. N’Faly Dante suffered a hard fall before he broke a sweat. He left the game, with his teammates and coaches craning their necks and watching the tunnel to see if he’d return. While Dante was being evaluated by trainers and getting an X-ray on his tailbone, Arizona punked Oregon in a variety of ways.
“We’d talked all night about playing through Dante and going through him early,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We lost our composure. Bad turnovers. Took some quick shots.”
Yeah, that’s the team that won the game.
Oregon outscored Arizona 44-26 in the second half. The Ducks erased a double-digit halftime deficit and danced off winners. I asked Altman in the post-game news conference what it was like to endure that wild swing of emotion.
In the first half, Oregon couldn’t buy a basket. Arizona built a 14-point first-half lead. Ducks fans groaned. Altman shouted, pumped his fist, and substituted players. Nothing worked.
“It’s not coaching if nobody’s listening,” Altman said after the game.
Altman’s fist-pumping act in the second half felt different. It came after made baskets and defensive stops. Freshman Jackson Shelstad finished with 21 points. Jermaine Couisnard was fantastic, adding 20. And Dante chipped in 14.
Couisnard and Dante are seniors.
“It’s so important for them,” Altman said, through glassy eyes in the news conference. “It’s the last crack.”
It’s been a maddening season for Oregon. The injuries were disruptive. The Ducks never found consistent traction. The losses to Arizona this season were particularly demoralizing, by 9 and 20 points. I wondered if Altman would throw in the keys at the end of the season.
Suddenly, he’s one game from the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona’s post-game news conference was a somber scene. Coach Tommy Lloyd looked at the box score and said: “We definitely wanted to get more shot attempts than 50.” And he said of Dante’s return: “That kid showed some character.”
Oregon’s players celebrated together on the court after the game. They slapped the “OREGON” sticker on the official tournament bracket. Dante and Shelstad gave post-game interviews for the Pac-12 Network. The Oregon-Arizona game was the final men’s basketball broadcast in the network’s decade-plus run.
Will anyone ever forget the comeback?
After the game the Ducks exited the court, passing by Colorado’s players in the mouth of the tunnel. The Buffaloes were on their way to face Washington State in the other semifinal.
“We live another day,” Altman said a few minutes later.
Nobody knows where this season will take the Ducks. Oregon could have rolled over at halftime. It could have wilted. Instead, it made a U-turn on the way to a season-ending loss.
UO’s players decided they wanted one more game. Then, they systematically dismantled Arizona in a breathtaking second half.
On Saturday, they’ll play for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s like Couisnard said: “We just had to believe.”
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Dana has pulled rabbits out of his hat before, but I really didn't see this coming. Especially being down and out in the first half.
This is something that happened in Vegas, but it's not staying in Vegas. 🦆🦆🦆
Awesome comeback, everything changed in the second half. Hats off to Dante who played his heart out and led this team to a victory and a memory not many of us thought was coming