Ducks vs. Wildcats: Lack of Crunch-Time Option Kills Arizona in Loss to Oregon

Derrick Williams' absence was never more pronounced than in the waning seconds of the Arizona Wildcats' loss to the Oregon Ducks at the McKale Center on Saturday afternoon.

The lack of a star in crunch time cost the program a crucial Pac-12 Conference game, and amplified fears that this team is headed in the opposite direction of an NCAA Tournament berth.

Arizona tried several different options on the last possession, seemingly uncertain of who on the court owned the rights to that last gasp to tie or win the game as time expired.

There was a rejected three-point shot by freshman guard Nick Johnson.

There was a long, errant trey from Brendon Lavender.

And then there was Kyle Fogg's fadeaway jumper in the lane, which clanked off the front iron as the buzzer sounded.

Final score: Oregon 59, Arizona 57.

None of the options invoked confidence, since all of those players are relatively unproven with the ball in their hands and the game in the balance.

The shocker of that sequence was the lack of a touch for Arizona's leading scorer and best attacker of the rim, Solomon Hill.

The 6'6" junior out of Los Angeles was a complete non-factor when urgency was at its peak. Hill finished with a team-high 16 points and seven boards, but disappeared in the final moments.

That can't happen again. 

Last January, that possession would've belonged to Williams, who went on to become the NBA's No. 2 draft pick and who already is proving his value for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Now the program, just a year removed from an Elite Eight appearance and which entered the year in the Top 25, is firmly implanted on the NCAA Tournament bubble—perhaps not even in that healthy of a condition at this point.

Besides lacking a late-game main threat, Arizona (12-6, 3-2) continues to struggle with its size deficiency in the post, going with 6'7" Jesse Perry and 6'8" Angelo Chol in the center slot for the duration.

And they were torched for a combined 26 points near the basket by Louisiana Tech transfer Olu Ashaolu and Minnesota transfer Devoe Joseph, not exactly All-American candidates.

The man who started the year at center for the Cats, 6'11" Kyryl Natyazhko (averaging a feeble 1.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game), did not see a minute of action after being ejected from Thursday's game against Oregon State.

With just six home games left in the Pac-12 season, Arizona cannot afford another loss in Tucson.

A hot streak is a necessity to avert the program missing the Big Dance for the second time in three years.