Sunday featured (4) Arizona (24-12) squaring off against former conference foe in (5) Oregon in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. It is the first time the two team have played against each other since UA fell 67-59 against OU in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Well, Sunday was a new day and a new look Arizona team from the previous season, the size, strength and speed of the Wildcats overwhelmed Oregon in an 87-83 win over the Ducks to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in coach Tommy Lloyd's four season at the head of the program.

Early on in the game, Arizona trailed 21-7 and then started to turn up the heat and toughness led by forward Tobe Awaka, who set the tone in the game coming up with a 12 point and 14 rebounds double-double performance.

A year ago, Arizona wasn't tough enough to win a gritty game against the Ducks. Now, after a 20-game Big 12 schedule, the Wildcats are thriving in physically tasking game and coming out on top.

With Awaka setting the tone in the paint, star guard Caleb Love was able to get his groove flowing a scored a game-high 29 points while going 10 of 18 from the field. Love not only put on a scoring clinic, he was able to collect nine rebounds and four assists in his 37 minutes on the court.

The Wildcats as a unit shot 45% from the field and got hot behind the 3-point line hitting 10 of 20 from beyond the arc.

In all, Arizona had five players score in double figures and the bench scoring 20 points giving the team a boost over the Ducks in a game that was down to one possession in the final minute.

In the tournament, games are won, or loss at the free throw line and throughout the season, Arizona has been one of the better free throw shooting teams hitting nearly 79% from the line, which is best for 15th nationally. Those numbers payed off for UA against Oregon with the Wildcats going 17 of 24 from the foul line while the Ducks struggled, missing 10 shots that might've made the difference in the end.

Unlike the first game of the tournament Arizona limited it turnover finishing the night with nine while totaling 13 assists.

One thing that kept Oregon in the game was a few lapses in the paint where the Ducks outscored Arizona 44 to 36. Plus, although UA only turned the ball over nine times, UO totaled 13 point in transition.

Things wont't get easier for Arizona as it marches on to the Sweet Sixteen and will face the East Region's No. 1 seed in Duke. However, it will be a rematch from an earlier game in the season where UA lost 69-55 in Tucson.

This will be somewhat of a rubber match between two historic programs as both have won on each others courts over the last two season putting the recent series at 1-1 with the current players on the roster.

The game has been set for Thursday at 6:39 p.m. (MST) with it being televised on CBS. If the Wildcats pull off the upset, it would be the first Elite Eight since the 2014-15 season under coach Sean Miller.

Lloyd became the first coach in program history to win 20-plus games in all of his first four seasons. Now, he will be looking to break through and get deeper in to March.

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