Oregon upsets Arizona, to play for NCAA Tournament berth in Pac-12 tournament championship
Oregon is one win away from the last Pac-12 Tournament championship and an improbable berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Jackson Shelstad (21 points) and Jermaine Couisnard (20) combined for 30 points in the second half as the No. 4-seeded Ducks upset top-seeded Arizona 67-59 in a tournament semifinal Friday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Oregon (22-11) advances to face the third-seeded Colorado Buffaloes (24-9), who defeated No. 2 seed Washington State 58-52 in the late semifinal. The title game is at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Shelstad and Couisnard took over amid a 44-26 second half for Oregon, which trailed 33-23 at halftime due in large part to center N’Faly Dante missing more than 10 minutes after landing on his back barely a minute into the game. Dante had 14 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals and was a plus-19 in 27 minutes.
Shelstad scored seven straight during a 17-3 Oregon run that turned a five-point deficit into a 53-44 lead with 8:12 to go.
Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Pelle Larsson had 11 points for Arizona, which went on a 9-0 run to get within 61-57 with 2:40 left but didn’t get any closer.
Arizona (25-8) will learn its NCAA Tournament draw Sunday.