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No. 2 Arizona holds off Oregon

Feb 7, 2014 - 6:41 AM Tucson, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - The second-ranked Arizona Wildcats were in danger of dropping their second straight game, but T.J. McConnell came through in the clutch.

McConnell made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining to lift the Wildcats over the Oregon Ducks, 67-65, on Thursday.

Nick Johnson ended with 18 points and went 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch for Arizona (22-1, 9-1 Pac-12), which lost Brandon Ashley to a season- ending foot injury in Saturday's loss at California.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for the Wildcats, who have won 18 consecutive games at home. Kaleb Tarczewski added 12 points and seven boards.

Jason Calliste and Joseph Young each had 14 points for the Ducks (15-7, 3-7), who had a two-game winning streak against Arizona snapped. Damyean Dotson donated 12 points.

Thursday's contest featured the Pac-12's most potent offense against its stingiest defense, as Oregon came in averaging 84.7 ppg while Arizona entered yielding only 56.8 ppg.

Trailing 60-55 with 3:52 to play, Arizona went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. Hollis-Jefferson and Tarczewski made layups around Young's miss from beyond the arc to make it a one-point contest. McConnell's 3-pointer with 1:32 left made it 62-60 Wildcats.

Young missed another shot from three-point range, and Johnson made two free throws at the other end with 47.8 seconds to go. Dominic Artis responded with a layup to get Oregon within 64-62.

Johnson added two more free throws with 31.7 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game. Young came down with an offensive rebound after Artis missed two shots from the line. Calliste was fouled and went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it 66-63.

Johnson went 1-of-2 from the line at the other end to make it a two-possession game. Dotson's slam at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.

"I consider that the image of our team. Maybe a lot of the games haven't been like that, but that's just the story with us," Johnson said. "Our defense down the stretch is what we rely on and that's what we've been doing all year."

Oregon took a 38-37 edge into the locker room and opened the second half on a 12-6 run. Richard Amardi's jumper with 12:15 remaining gave the Ducks a 50-43 edge.

After the Wildcats scored seven straight points to tie the game, Oregon went on a 6-0 spurt to go back in front.

Game Notes

Arizona owns a 46-25 lead in the all-time series with Oregon ... Oregon forward Mike Moser, who ended with four points, reached the 1,000 point mark, becoming the third member of the 2013-14 team to join the 1,000 point club ... The Wildcats went 19-of-35 from the foul line.