TUCSON, Ariz. Adidas Continental 80 Suomi . -- 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. Adidas NMD R1 Alennus .J. - Henrik Lundqvist has done more than set a couple of franchise records for the New York Rangers this week. Adidas NMD R2 Suomi . Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks place in the NFC championship game. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/adidas-kengat-halvalla.html . - PGA Tour rookie Tony Finau shot a 9-under 63 at Del Monte and had a two-stroke lead over Billy Andrade and Lee Janzen of the Champions Tour after Thursdays opening round of the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational.ST. LOUIS -- When Cardinals manager Mike Matheny came to the mound in the seventh inning, Adam Wainwright focused on recording another out. Matheny left his ace in for one more hitter with two on and Wainwright responded with one more big pitch, and then left the mound with a whoop in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. "That was a couple weeks of frustration built up, just not making a pitch when I needed to," Wainwright said. "He just came out and gave me a little pep talk. "Hes a motivational speaker guy, hes very good at that." Yoenis Cespedes took a third strike on a full-count curveball and catcher Tony Cruz sprinted to the dugout before home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom raised his right arm. "Hes one of the top pitchers and when they get into trouble they find ways to get out of it," Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Thats what he did. Thats why hes one of the best." Wainwright recovered from a shaky start to earn his 14th win, tying for the major league lead, and rookie Kolten Wong homered twice. "Hes got really impressive bat speed, always has," Matheny said of Wong. "You dont have to cheat. You just take the head of the bat to the ball and watch it jump." Jhonny Peraltas two-run double keyed a three-run first off Brandon Workman and Wong had his first multihomer game. The Cardinals took two of three from their stripped-down opponents, who beat them in the World Series last fall but are in last place in the AL East. "That first inning is kind of notorious in his career," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Workman. Wainwright (14-6) needed 66 pitches to slog through the first three innings after the start was delayed by rain for more than an hour for the second straight night. The 6-foot-7 right-hander retired 11 in a row before the seventh. Wainwright has won at least 14 games each of the last three seasons. Wily Peralta won his 14th game earlierr Thursday for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who are one game ahead of St. Adidas NMD Cs2 Suomi. Louis. Workman (1-5) retired nine straight before Wong lined a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall with one out in the fifth to put the Cardinals up 4-2. Wong then added his ninth homer in the seventh, a 423-foot shot off Craig Breslow. Mike Napoli and Christian Vasquez each drove in a run in the third, Wainwrights roughest inning. He had seven strikeouts and allowed seven hits, four of them in the third. SLOW STARTERS Workman has totalled 70 pitches in the first inning his last two starts, allowing five runs. He faced eight batters in St. Louis three-run first. TRAINERS ROOM Red Sox: David Ortiz was scratched because of concerns with wet grounds and Napoli got the start at first base instead. Ortiz pinch-hit in the eighth and lined out. Allen Craig (left foot sprain) is visiting with specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday and will rejoin the team in Los Angeles. Cardinals: Closer Trevor Rosenthal made his fourth straight appearance in a five-day span on Wednesday and took the loss, surrendering the go-ahead run. He didnt warm up during the finale. All-Star setup man Pat Neshek finished for his third save in five chances, and first since June 17. "(Rosenthal) could have said whatever he wanted to say, it didnt really matter tonight," Matheny said. ON DECK The Cardinals sent Justin Masterson (1-0, 7.50 ERA) ahead to Baltimore, where he will oppose Chris Tillman (8-5, 3.78 ERA) on Friday night. He is 2-3 with a 6.98 ERA in six starts at Camden Yards. The Red Sox begin a three-game series at Los Angeles, with Allen Webster (1-1, 6.75 ERA) opposing the Angels Jered Weaver (12-6, 3.59 ERA). NOTABLE The Cardinals have won all four interleague series against the Red Sox and are 8-4 overall. ... Boston centre fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was hitless in three at-bats before coming out in a double switch and is in an 0-for-27 slump. ' ' '