With Oregon’s NCAA tournament hopes hanging in the balance, the Ducks turned to a maligned player to lead them to a much-needed victory in the second-to-last game of the regular season, 85-78 over Arizona State on Tuesday.
“I’m just trying to come out with a sense of urgency because I know it’s my last year and am trying to make the NCAA tournament with the team,” Oregon center Waverly Austin said. “It’ll be real special to do it (make the tournament) two years in a row because not a lot of players can say they did that. I’m just trying to give it all I got for the team.”
It’s been a long time coming, but Austin showed everyone that the Ducks do have an low post presence, something they’ve been missing all year since the departures of Arslan Kazemi and Tony Woods to graduation last year.
“Oh boy, he was the difference in the game – Wave was the difference in the game,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “We got beat so bad inside the first time we played them and Waverly’s presence and his activity. You know, five blocks and 10 rebounds, just a great performance.”
After being having his starting spot ripped away and being benched halfway through the year, Austin responded when called upon as he totaled career-highs in rebounds and blocks in Oregon’s win.
“He’s getting an opportunity and he’s taking advantage of it,” Altman said of Austin’s recent playing time increase. “To his credit, when things didn’t go well for him for whatever reason, he just kept going and stayed with us as a coaching staff. When he got his second chance, he’s come back and given us a lot.”
ASU’s Jahii Carson, the Pac-12’s fourth leading scorer and fearless driver to the hoop, and seven-foot NBA prospect Jordan Bachynski abused Austin and the Ducks the first time these two teams met a month ago, but it was a different story in the rematch.
“It feels good – knowing I wasn’t playing but just not giving up and going hard in practice and staying focused,” Austin said. “Coach always tells me, ‘Be ready,’ and so today I had another opportunity to help the team out and that’s what I did.”
While Austin isn’t exceptionally athletic, he’s a potentially strong and imposing figure awaiting opponents underneath the Ducks’ hoop. Austin’s presence could be seen in back-to-back possessions for ASU in the second half.
With under 12 minutes to play, Carson beat Johnathon Loyd off the dribble and had a clear path to the basket but Austin left Bachysnki to come over and alter the shot into a miss. On the next possession, Carson beat Joseph Young off the dribble and with a clear lane to the hoop, he refused to drive and settled for a missed jump shot.
Entering the game, Austin had been averaging just 10.2 minutes per game with averages of 1.7 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He also totaled just 19 blocks in 25 games. Those are staggeringly low numbers for a senior starter who’s listed at 6-foot-11 and weighs 257 pounds but on Tuesday night, Austin played up to his size.
Apart from the stats tonight, Austin was doing all the little things for the Ducks, diving on the floor for loose balls, altering multiple shots and even being a rebounding presence on the offensive side of the ball. Of his 10 rebounds on the night, five of them came on the offensive end of the court.
He also showed a little nastiness underneath the hoop, consistently beating up Bachynski and making his fouls count. Numerous times, Austin sent Bachynski to the floor as if to say “this is my paint,” something he’d almost never done during his time as a Duck. He did pick up a flagrant foul for pushing Bachynski after the whistle but that could be viewed positively, illustrating his refusal to back down from the big man all night.
Although it’s too late to ask where the Ducks would be if Austin would’ve played like this in half the games this year, let alone the whole year, the Ducks are still fighting for a berth in the NCAA tournament and Austin is a big reason for that.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka