The Arizona Wildcats put on the kind of show Wednesday that left just about everyone happy.
In a fast-paced 90-56 win over Oregon at McKale Center, the Wildcats left their sellout crowd of 14,655 happy with what was their biggest winning margin of the Pac-12 season and the most since they put away Oakland 101-64 back on Dec. 16.
By holding the Ducks to 40.4 percent shooting, containing Oregon gunner Joseph Young to just 12 points and scoring 23 points off Oregon’s 16 turnovers — the Wildcats put together the kind of defense that makes coach Sean Miller happy.
And with six guys in double figures — plus nine points and five rebounds from Dusan Ristic — the Wildcats made themselves happy, with touches and shots for everyone who took the floor. They did it all with only two turnovers in the second half and 10 total.
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“When we take care of the ball and we move the ball, good things happen for us because we have balance,” Miller said. “As the ball moves, and we move, a lot of success follows.”
Miller called it one of the Wildcats’ top performances of the year, next to big wins over Gonzaga and Utah, while guard T.J. McConnell’s body language suggested it was at least that.
McConnell fist-pumped and yelled his way to 10 points, five assists, a steal and no turnovers, and the fact that the Wildcats shared the wealth from the scoring standpoint was fine with him.
“That shows we can have those kind of nights any given night,” McConnell said. “I thought it was one of the best games we played all year.”
Gabe York led the Wildcats offensively 16 points while keying a 14-0 second-half run that put the Ducks away for good.
Stanley Johnson, Brandon Ashley, McConnell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kaleb Tarczewski also all scored in double figures for UA, which shot 59.3 percent, their best percentage in Pac-12 play.
But of course, for the Wildcats, it was all about starting the offense on the defensive end. Miller credited McConnell and Hollis-Jefferson, who was partly responsible for Young’s limited opportunities, while also commending Tarczewski on his interior work.
“We want you to feel we’re a hard-playing, together team on defense,” Miller said. “Two guys on the perimeter, Rondae and T.J., are dynamic defensively. … They set the tone for everyone else. And interior defense, Kaleb’s not your shot blocker but he’s an elite defender inside. We depend on those guys a lot to set the tone.”
Leading 42-27 at halftime, Arizona had its lead chipped away early in the second half. Oregon scored eight straight points to pull within 56-46 with 13 minutes left but York helped Arizona take charge again.
York hit a three-pointer with 12:27 left and then stepped in front of an Oregon pass, then drove down for a layup and drew a foul, converting the and-one free throw for a 62-44 lead with 12:03 to go. He then added another three-pointer for his own personal 9-0 run.
The rest of the Wildcats extended the run to 14-0, taking a 70-46 lead by the time Johnson converted a three-point play with 8:25 left.
“I thought we started off the second half slow on defense,” McConnell said. “I thought we buckled down a bit and Gabe gave us a spark and we kind of took care of tit from there.”
In the first half, Arizona raced to a 42-27 halftime lead.
McConnell had 10 points and three assists to lead the Wildcats, who didn’t get a single point from their leading scorer, Johnson, until 3:29 remained in the first half.
But by then, Arizona had already been running a smooth offense, hitting 60 percent of its shots and having nine players with two or more points to that point. The Wildcats finished shooting exactly 60 percent from the field while out-rebounding Oregon 17-11 in the half.
Hollis-Jefferson picked up a loose ball and dunked just before the halftime buzzer, finishing the half with six points and four rebounds.
On the other end of the court, Arizona kept Oregon to 38 percent field-goal shooting until the final four minutes, though the Ducks went into halftime shooting 42.3 percent. They also held Young to just five points on 2-for-4 shooting.
Elgin Cook had 16 to lead the Ducks offensively.
The Wildcats played right along with the Ducks’ up-tempo ways early, putting together eight of its most efficient offensive minutes to start the game. Arizona made 8 of 12 field goals through the 11:54 mark, with York and Elliott Pitts hitting three-pointers, when Johnson was still scoreless.
