TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizonas offence was disjointed, the shots werent falling, the free throws clanging one after another. Playing without injured forward Brandon Ashley for the first time, the second-ranked Wildcats looked out of sorts on the offensive end, leaving them in jeopardy of their first losing streak of the season. Good thing they know how to play defence, particularly when the game is on the line. Digging in over the closing minutes, Arizona overcame a rough shooting night to win in their first game without Ashley, grinding out a 67-65 victory over Oregon on Thursday night. "Our defence down the stretch is what we rely on," said Nick Johnson, who led Arizona with 18 points. "We have all year." The Wildcats needed it against Oregon. Coming off its first loss of the season, Arizona (22-1, 9-1 Pac-12) laboured offensively without Ashley, who is out for the season with a foot injury suffered last Saturday in a loss at California. The Wildcats went 4 for 16 from three-point range, missed 16 free throws and had a tough time even getting into their set plays. They turned up the pressure with the game on the line and, as they have for much of the season, found a way to make the big plays when they needed to. Point guard T.J. McConnell missed seven of his first eight shots before dropping in a three-pointer with 90 seconds left to give Arizona the lead. Johnson went 5 of 16 from the field, but kept fighting his way through it and hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 47 seconds. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson provided the Wildcats with a big lift, too, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and all kinds of not-in-the-box score contributions with his hustle in his first start in place of Ashley. "Our offence was a little out synch play-wise, but we battled back," McConnell said. "Weve done that so many times this year, been in games like that before, so I think were a battle-tested team." Oregon (15-7, 3-7) held its composure in one of college basketballs toughest road arenas, keeping the Wildcats at bay well into the second half. When Arizona turned up the pressure and the fans in the McKale Center turned up the noise, the Ducks had no answer. Oregon had a couple of key turnovers late and missed 3 of 4 free throws while shooting toward the raucous Arizona student section in the final 23 seconds. Joseph Young and Jason Calliste had 14 points each and Damyean Dotson added 12 for the Ducks in another oh-so-close loss. "Theyre hurting," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "This is their third two-point loss. I just told them weve got to be resilient. It hurts having an opportunity and not being able to finish." Arizona had to shuffle its lineup with Ashley out, moving Hollis-Jefferson into the starting lineup and long-range shooter Gabe York into his sixth-man role. The new-look rotation was solid early, dropping in 3-pointers and flying in for dunks while Kaleb Tarczewski had his way inside for 10 points and five offensive rebounds. After that, it was a struggle. With the Ducks double-teaming Tarczewski in the post and McConnell out with his third foul late in the first half, Arizona could only find an offensive rhythm in stretches. The Wildcats didnt help themselves at the free throw line, either, making 11 of 19 in the first half. Arizona got off to a slow start in the second half and trailed most of the way as the shots continued to bounce away. The Wildcats have proven to be strong-minded most of the season -- their only loss was on a last-second shot by Cal -- and again found a way to pull out a not-so-pretty victory. "Tonights game is a real tribute to the team that we have in that it took a lot of resiliency on our part, a lot of belief and toughness because things werent going our way," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. Oregon, the defending Pac-12 tournament champion, has been in a downward spiral since conference play started, losing five straight after being ranked as high as 10th. The Ducks bounced back with two wins in their previous three games, but still needed to start winning to have a chance at returning to the NCAA tournament. After a slow start, Oregon started dropping in shots to lead 38-37 at halftime. The Ducks pushed the lead to seven points midway through the second half, but faltered down the stretch. Oregon fell behind by four after a shot-clock violation and a wild three-point attempt by Young, yet still had a chance in the closing seconds. The Ducks pulled within 64-62 on Dominic Artis shot in the lane, but he missed two free throws and Calliste hit 1 of 2 as Arizonas fans waved wildly in the background. "I thought we were in pretty good shape, but didnt finish it," Altman said. Arizona did, just as it has most of the season. Wholesale Mets Jerseys . You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal or on TSN.ca/Montreal. Also, TSN.ca features live streaming of the post-game news conferences from the Bell Centre. The Rangers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final after Sundays 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Habs. Mets Jerseys 2020 .C., has been named Canadas top female official, winning the 2014 SOC Award of Excellence. Cranes career as a figure skating judge has spanned over 40 years. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/. -- Josh MacDonalds second goal of the game kept his team alive as the Peterborough Petes edged the host Kingston Frontencas 6-5 in overtime on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. New York Mets Gear . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. New York Mets Pro Shop . At this point, even he isnt sure when it is going to stop. The right-hander dropped his fourth straight decision in Los Angeles 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, leaving his status very much in doubt as the Dodgers prepare for the stretch drive.EDMONTON -- Its two games into the 2014 season and the Edmonton Eskimos have already racked up half of their wins from the entire 2013 campaign. But as Edmontons first-year head coach Chris Jones sees it, it wasnt easy. Grant Shaw made a pair of field goals in the final two minutes of play and the defence came up with a dramatic final stand as the Eskimos equalled their home win total from last season in just one game, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-24 in their home opener on Friday. Shaw had previously missed on two other fourth-quarter three-point attempts. "We were fortunate to get out of there with a win because of many things that we did wrong," said Jones. The Eskimos, who went 1-8 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton in 2013, improved to 2-0 in total this year. Edmonton also eclipsed its win total from its first 10 games last season when it got off to a 1-9 start before finishing with just four wins. "It was a team effort," said Eskimos defensive end Odell Willis. "We just had to pick it up. Our offence was struggling a bit. We had to come out there are do what had to be done." Shaw went from being the goat to earning the winning points, which made his earlier misses easier to swallow. "He made enough for us to win the football game," Jones said. "And thats what were worried about. He did a good job." The Tiger-Cats dropped to 0-2. "The turnovers at the end of the game just killed us," said a visibly upset Hamilton head coach Kent Austin, who was seen booting a water bottle in the hallways shortly after the game. "Its an extremely tough way to lose a football game. Our guys had a good opportunity to win, even with the three turnovers at the end of the game. We just didnt get it done. We didnt deserve it." The Edmonton defence set the tone on just the second play of the game, as Aaron Grymes sacked Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros. Grymes then picked off a Collaros pass on the Ticats next possession, giving the Eskimos the ball on the Hamilton 14. The play eventually led to a three-yard touchdown pass from QB Mike Reilly to Nate Coehoorn to put Edmonton up 7-0 midway through the first quarter. Hamilton caught a big break with five minutes left in the first, as Edmonton receiver Adarius Bowman, who had dropped a sure TD pass the play before, fumbled the ball away to Erik Harris. Harris brought the ball back 48 yards into Edmonton territory. The big turnover ended up turning it into a tie game, as backup QB Dan LeFevour came in to run for a two-yard touchdown strike. Edmonton regained the lead seven minutes into the second as a 43-yard pass to Fred Stamps set up a Shaw field goal to put the Esks ahead 10-7. Moments later, Collaros was flattened by a helmet hit to the chin by Edmontons Odell Willis and was taken out of the game. He did not return. A series of bad penalties by the Eskimos put Hamilton deep in Edmonton territory and allowed them to tie the game again on a 22-yard Justin Medlock field goal for a 10-10 score at the half. The Tiger-Cats jumped in front early in the third as a 46-yard passing play from third-string QB Jeremiah Masoli to Cary Koch led tto a seven-yard touchdown run by C.dddddddddddd.J. Gable. The Eskimos responded with a 32-yard Shaw field goal on the next series to make it 17-13, a score that stood up heading into the fourth. Hamilton took an 11-point lead three minutes into the final frame as a 39-yard passing play to Luke Tasker set up a 10-yard TD catch by Gable to make it 24-13 for the Tabbies. Edmonton was unable to capitalize on a 62-yard kickoff return by Patrick Robertson to the 40, and ended up with just a single point on a missed Shaw field goal attempt. However, the Eskimos would still make a game out of it with just under nine minutes left as Masoli took off on a QB keeper, only to have the ball ripped out of his hands by Edmonton defender Patrick Watkins and taken 50 yards into the end zone to make it 24-21 for the Ticats. "That was really the turning point of the ball game," Jones said. "From then on we regained the momentum and knew we were going to win the ball game." A minute later Masoli fumbled a snap and then held up Edmontons Marcus Howard in his attempt to recover it, earning a loose ball interference call and turning the ball over to the Eskimos on the Hamilton 33. Once again, though, the Esks squandered the opportunity as Shaw missed a 38-yard attempt. Edmonton got back into field goal territory one more time with 1:30 left to play and this time Shaw was good from 43 yards out to put the Eskimos up 25-24. Hamilton got the ball back one more time, but LeFevour was picked off by Joe Burnett who took the ball down to the Tiger-Cats 17, leading to another Shaw field goal, this one from the 15-yard-line. However, the fireworks continued as the Tiger-Cats got the ball back and marched down field in the final minute all the way to the Edmonton five-yard-line, but the Eskimos defence was able to come up with a pair of big stops to earn the win. "There are positives we can take from the game," Austin said. "Our effort was unbelievable and we got better as a football team this week. That said, we arent good enough to win because we are making too many mistakes. We have to get those corrected and then we will get on a winning track" The Eskimos return to action next Friday when they host the expansion Ottawa Redblacks. The Tiger-Cats have a bye before visiting Calgary on July 18. Notes: The defending Eastern Conference champion Tiger-Cats had a tough start on the offensive line in their opening week 31-10 loss to Saskatchewan, allowing 10 quarterback sacksa The Eskimos started the season as the only team in the CFL to open with a road win, defeating the B.C. Lions 27-20. With that win, the Eskimos remained the leagues greatest all-time season opening club with a 41-26-1 record.a Eskimos starting safety Ryan Hinds missed the game and has been placed on the six-game injured with a lower-body injury. However, Edmonton had some good news as linebacker J.C. Sherritt returned to the lineup for the first time this season. Edmonton was 0-8 last season without Sherritt, who set the CFL single-season record for tackles two years ago with 130a Edmonton came into the game with a league-best 46-17-2 record in home openers. ' ' '