by DSH contributing writer Eric Sloat
Two in a row for the Ducks, 5 games left. They certainly aren’t a top-10 team now, but they are beginning to at least resemble the team that started the season. Oregon shot 57% from the field, 29-51, 5-12 on 3’s. Washington shot 44%, 24-55, and only 4-17 behind the line. Oregon’s defense was especially effective on the Huskies’ leading scorer, holding CJ Wilcox to only 9 points, 2-8 from the field, one 3, and 4-6 on free throws. Perris Blackwell led Washington with 17. Oregon was led by Moser with 20, Young had 18, and Dotson, 17.
Dark Horse: The Ducks laced up a victory over Washington last night to reach 17-8, 5-8 in conference (Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports).
Neither team could get much traction early; Washington wasn’t shooting well, but made up the difference with offensive rebounds. In the first half, whether it was Austin, Amardi or Carter, Oregon’s center picked up only one rebound. The Ducks got their biggest lead in the first half with 9:13 left on a Moser 3 pointer. The Huskies then went on a 9-0 run to lead 28-24. It would be back and forth to the end of the half, with Washington scoring the final 3, and go in at halftime up, 39-36.
The play of the game came seconds into the second half, when Moser took the inbounds pass from Young, slammed it home and made the free throw to tie the game. Missed three by the Huskies, and Loyd takes it in for a lay-up, he’s fouled and misses the free throw, but steals the ball on the next possession and feeds it to Dotson for the score. Another stop for the Ducks, quick passing gets the ball down court, Young hits a 3, and it’s a 10-0 run for the Ducks and they have the lead, 46-36.
During their 5 game losing streak the Ducks didn’t have runs like that. But in the last two games, the shooting has definitely come back, and the offensive production has picked up the defense, Early in the game the Huskies found the backdoor for easy scores, but it wasn’t open in the second half. The Huskies guards were not able to penetrate inside and dictate the play; the Ducks kept the Huskies on the perimeter, and forced them to take bad shots with time running out.
Oregon was their own worst enemy at times, with errant passes stopping the offense. But the defense stood up, and after the run to start the 2nd half, Washington tied the score at 60-60 with 9:11 left, but could never take the lead. It’s still an uphill climb for Oregon, but the opportunity is there for them to do a re-write for the second half of the season. Next up is Washington State, at Matthew Knight on Sunday.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
