Photo gallery: Oregon men's basketball upsets No. 9 Arizona
The Oregon men’s basketball program notched a much-needed upset victory over No. 9 Arizona in Eugene on Saturday, and in the process, may have gotten its season back on track.
The Ducks topped the Wildcats, 87-68, in front of a raucous crowd at Matthew Knight Arena behind standout performances from N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard.
It was Oregon’s first win over a ranked opponent this season and came less than 48 hours after a blowout loss at the hands of Arizona State.
“Those guys are going to have to come and play with that edge that they came with Friday and Saturday,” Altman said. “You think maybe we were more fired up, but we didn’t do anything different. We prepared the same way. We didn’t scream or yell at them. We didn’t practice for two hours yesterday, we took the same amount of time that we always do, did the same things that we always do. They made the adjustment.”
ScoopDuck photographer Darby Winter was on hand the capture the action during the Ducks’ thrilling upset on Saturday.
Here are some of his top shots from a memorable afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
**Three takeaways from Oregon’s statement win over No. 9 Arizona**
Oregon bounced back in a major way on Saturday with a dominant 87-68 win over the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats at Matthew Knight Arena.
The win was the Ducks’ best of the season and provided a much-needed boost to their NCAA tournament resume after a recent string of ugly losses.
Here are three takeaways from Oregon’s statement win over the Wildcats on a memorable afternoon in Eugene.
Oregon is capable of righting the ship
Dana Altman couldn’t sleep early Friday morning.
The Ducks’ humiliating loss from the night before left Oregon’s head coach staring at the ceiling, racking his brain for answers as to how Oregon could possibly bounce back after getting run out of the gym by Arizona State earlier that evening.
So, Altman finally gave up on the idea of sleep altogether, hopped in his car, and hit I5 South.
“I didn’t know if I was gonna stop or not — I couldn’t sleep,” Altman said. “I made it close to Roseburg. Just trying to think, clear my head. What do we have to do to get them going?”
