by DSH contributing writer Eric Sloat
It was the first ever meeting between Oregon and Oregon State in a conference tournament and the Ducks advanced to the second round with an 88-74 victory. It was a rocky start for the Ducks, falling behind 9-0. Mike Moser got the Ducks on the scoreboard with a 3 at the 15:51 mark. At this point, Altman opened up the turnstile and the Ducks started to turn things around. Elgin Cook was the catalyst; hit his first shot, took a charge; it was 15-9. It wasn’t just Cook who made an impact from the bench though; Dominic Artis came in for Jon Loyd and played his best game of the season, three straight assists from Artis to three different teammates, Calliste, Carter, and Dotson and the Ducks had their first lead, 17-15.
MGM Grand: Dominic Artis powers for a lay-up in Oregon's 88-74 victory over OSU in the first round of the PAC-12 playoffs. The red-hot Ducks won their eighth in a row, face UCLA Thursday (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports).
The Ducks kept it going, creating a 19 point turnaround, coming from 10 down at 15-5 to lead, 31-22. But just when it looked like the Ducks might run away with this one, the Beavers found an opening in the Ducks defense; a dunk by Daniel Gomis made it 32-27. Roberto Nelson got a lay-up, 34-29. A lay-up for Collier, two lay-ups in a row for Nelson, and it was 39-35 with 1:35 left in the half. A lay-up by Cooke with 7 seconds to go would end the first half, with OSU on a 18-9 run and only trailing by 1, 41-40. The end of the first half was reminiscent of the loss to the Huskies in Seattle, and the one problem that has persisted in the Ducks’ defense all season long; teams getting to the basket for easy shots.
The second half started off looking a lot like the first half had ended, both teams trading the lead. But with 10:33 to go in the game, Joe Young turned the tables on the Beavers, scoring on 4 straight lay-ups, leading the Ducks on a 8-0 run to make it 71-59, and the game belonged to the Ducks.
It could not have gone better for the Ducks in their first game; five turnovers to 15 for the Beavers. The Ducks had the ball moving like they need to do, getting 15 assists, to 7 for the Beavers. Oregon connected on 10-16 on 3’s, Oregon State, only took 6 and made 3. The bench for Oregon outscored Oregon States, 46-6. Calliste, with another smooth performance led the bench with 17, staying hot on 3’s, 3-4 and 6-6 on free throws. Young led the Ducks with 19. Artis scored 10, and only had 2 turnovers. The depth of the Ducks was vital in this one as none of the player’s logged big minutes and the performance level stayed consistent. . It will take an even better effort from the Ducks to beat UCLA and move to the next round, but it was a great start.
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