No. 3 Arizona had lost seven consecutive games to Oregon heading into its latest showdown at McKale Center. At the half Saturday night, Tommy Lloyd's team found itself trailing 47-45 in a shootout. The offenses for both teams kept pace in the second half, but led by a 24-point effort from guard Benn Mathurin the Wildcats were able to secure an 84-81 victory over Oregon.

"Well, guys, it is a great result. And Oregon, I thought, played a really good game and they're a formidable opponent, and they've been a little bit up and down this year, but we know their ceiling is really high, and I'm going to give him a ton of credit," said Lloyd during his postgame press conference.

"Once they got off to a good start, they were able to get the game they were comfortable getting and it's tough to play against. So, I was proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to win a close game. We haven't had a lot of those."

For Mathurin, that makes it four straight 20-point games, and during that stretch he is averaging 22.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and is shooting 55% from the field.

""I told Ben to Smile. Smile today, have fun, enjoy this moment and there's no pressure on you; there's nothing, and he's just kind of found the joy in the game again," said Lloyd on what the difference has been for Mathurin during this four-game stretch. "And you know, nothing great in life can be accomplished without enthusiasm and joy. And so that's been my message to him."

Against the Ducks, Mathurin scored his 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting and shot 57% from the 3-point line while collecting seven rebounds and five assists.

The Wildcats shot 53% from the field and went 11 for 23 from the 3-point line while holding the Ducks to 46% from the field. That may seem like a high shooting percentage, but in the first half, Dana Altman's team was shooting 48% from the field before Arizona held them to 14 of 33 in the second half.

Part of the defensive adjustments Arizona (24-2, 14-1 Pac-12) made in the second half was the defense that was played on guard Will Richardson. After scoring 16 points in the first half, Richardson finished the game with 22 points and went quiet by only taking six shots the rest of the night.

The Ducks were killing Arizona from the 3-point line going 6 for 13 in the first half and then things changed. Oregon (17-10, 10-6) shot 3 for 13 from beyond the arc ending the game going 9 for 26, showing the defensive changes the Wildcats made.

On the game's final play, center Christian Koloko got switched on Richardson and forced him off the 3-point line into a tough shot as time expired to seal the victory.

"I mean, to be honest, I didn't even know if I had to foul or not and I knew he wanted to shoot a three," said Koloko on the last play of the game. "So, I just tried to make him drive and he drove, and I don't know if he traveled, or they gave me the block. Yeah, I was just trying not to let him shoot a three."

Koloko finished the night with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks while going 5 for 8 from the field.

Despite the effort from Koloko, the Wildcats were unable to win the battle in the paint, losing 38-36 and getting outrebounded 35-33, making it the third time all season that Arizona has lost the rebounding margin.

The Wildcats will now hit the road for the Rocky Mountain trip and get things started with a Thursday game against Utah (11-17, 4-13) at 9 p.m. (MST) on FS1.

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans Inside McKale

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS, @THutch1995, @AverieKlonowski)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)