PORTLAND, Ore. – A 10-0 run over the final two minutes carried Oregon (3-4 overall) to a 74-67 victory over Villanova at the PK Invitational Sunday at the University of Portland. The Wildcats had battled back to grab the lead on a Brendan Hausen 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to play.
 
Caleb Daniels led the Wildcats (2-5 overall) with 16 points while Hausen added 15 points, on five three pointers.
 
"Our guys fought," stated head coach Kyle Neptune. "We had our chances but in the end it just wasn't enough."
 
The Ducks were able to take advantage of their size along the interior to grab a 7-4 lead over the Wildcats in the first 4:45 of action. Consecutive 3-pointers by Quincy Guerrier for Oregon created a 15-6 advantage seven minutes into the contest.
 
Oregon extended its margin to 23-13 with just over nine minutes to play in the period thanks to two more triples. A Hausen corner 3-pointer cut the lead to 23-16 with 7:16 left in the period. An Eric Dixon 3-pointer and Chris Arcidiacono driving layup cut the gap to 25-21, inducing an Oregon timeout. But a deep 3-pointer from Will Richardson followed by a slam from Kel'el Ware pushed the Ducks' lead up to 30-21 with 3:49 remaining in the half.
 
A pair of deep 3-pointers by Hausen got the 'Cats to within 30-27. Oregon picked up a 3-pointer off a loose basketball before four straight points from Daniels made it 33-31. The Ducks got the last points of the half to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
Daniels and Hausen paced the Villanova attack with nine first half points. Richardson led the Ducks with 10 points. The Wildcats were 11-of-31 from the floor in the half (.355) while Oregon connected on 12-of-29 (.414).
 
Villanova was unable to score in its first three possessions after the break and that allowed the Ducks to build their lead to 40-31 ahead of a VU timeout with 17:29 to play in the period. Arcidiacono set up Daniels for a slam dunk to snap the drought and then Dixon found Daniels open inside for a dunk. That made it 42-35 with 15:45 left in the contest.
 
Oregon stretched the lead to 47-40 before a deuce from Dixon cut the lead to 47-42 with 13:05 left. Mark Armstrong got a transition bucket to narrow the lead to 52-45 before Guerrier converted his fifth triple of the day. The Ducks' tenth 3-ball of the day made it 58-48.
 
A 10-3 spurt with Arcidiacono scoring five points cut the deficit to 61-58 with 5:40 left on the clock. When Angelo Brizzi sank a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity, the 'Cats were down just one, 63-62. When Dixon sank a low post basket with just over three minutes remaining, the game was tied at 64.
 
Hausen then dropped in a corner 3-pointer that Guerrier matched on Oregon's next offensive possession to deadlock matters at 67 with 2:08 left in regulation. But the Ducks got a free throw and a Richardson layup with just over a minute on the clock to take a 70-67 lead. They got another stop and made free throws to make the final margin 74-67.
 
"We just weren't able to execute in the final two minutes," Neptune noted.
 
Villanova was slated to return to Philadelphia on Sunday night to begin preparations to host Oklahoma Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center at 12:30 p.m.