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Surging Oregon halts Arizona's 49-game home winning streak
The nation's longest home winning streak wasn't all that Arizona lost Thursday night.
The Wildcats also ceded the title of Pac-12 favorites to the team that handed them their first loss at the McKale Center in nearly three years.
Not only did Oregon rally from an early 13-point first-half deficit to earn an 83-75 victory, the Ducks looked like the stronger, more explosive team for much of the night. They forced 19 Arizona turnovers with their trapping zone defense, they protected the ball at the other end of the floor and they also relentlessly and fearlessly attacked the rim.
The game's best player from start to finish was Dillon Brooks, who scored 24 points by exploiting his edge in quickness over Ryan Anderson, Mark Tollefsen or any other power forward Arizona attempted to have guard him. Forwards Dwayne Benjamin and Elgin Cook also hurt Arizona, the former mostly from behind the arc and the latter around the rim.
It was Benjamin and Brooks who scored some of the game's biggest baskets after Arizona briefly tied the score on a Parker Jackson Cartwright 3-pointer with seven minutes to play. The two Oregon forwards scored the next eight points of the game, giving the Ducks the cushion they needed to close out a huge victory.
Oregon's win gives the Ducks (17-4, 6-2) six victories in their past seven games and keeps them tied with surprising Washington for first place in the Pac-12. Colorado, Utah and USC are still in striking distance only a game behind Oregon, but Arizona is two full games off the pace and the Wildcats don't face the Ducks a second time this regular season.
Arizona might yet be able to make a run if Allonzo Trier comes back quickly at full strength, but the Wildcats aren't nearly as menacing right now as previous incarnations were.
They don't have a trustworthy point guard like T.J. McConnell. They're not nearly as dominant or as disciplined defensively. And aside from Gabe York and Ryan Anderson, they don't really have any scorers who strike fear into their opponents.
Trier had improved as a defender and emerged as the team's top perimeter scorer prior to breaking his hand against USC earlier this month. Arizona has gone 3-2 in his absence, with the lone loss prior to Thursday night coming at California by one point.
The headline from Thursday night's loss will undoubtedly be the demise of Arizona's remarkable 49-game home win streak.
In reality, right now the Wildcats have bigger concerns.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
