Oregon’s Jekyll and Hyde season continued Saturday night.
With a raucous crowd of 10,712 to bear witness, the Ducks (13-7, 6-3 Pac-12) rinsed the taste of their loss to Colorado from their mouths with a 78-56 drubbing of rival Oregon State (3-15, 1-7 Pac-12) in Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon completed the sweep of Oregon State for the first time in five seasons.
The Ducks blocked eight shots, racked up 10 steals and broke the game open with a 28-8 run in the first half’s final 9 minutes en route to a redeeming win after the inferior Beavers nearly knocked off Oregon in Corvallis on Jan. 10.
Four Ducks, Jacob Young (17), Will Richardson (15), Eric Williams Jr. (14) and De’Vion Harmon (14) scored in double-digits. The team shot 55% and hit 9-of-27 3’s.
Center N’Faly Dante finished with 9 points, 10 rebounds and a career-tying three blocks.
“[Dante] always got my back…,” Young said. “Our bigs, they’re going to have your back. They’re going to play hard and make big plays.”
After getting outmuscled in their 82-78 loss to Colorado on Tuesday, Oregon outrebounded Oregon State and scored 40 points in the paint to the Beavers’ 18.
Neither team garnered more than a 4 point lead through the game’s low-scoring first 12 minutes. But trailing 17-16 lead with 8:30 to go in the first half, the Ducks rattled off a 28-8 run.
Ignited by a twisting finish by Jacob Young through a flagrant foul on Beavers center Roman Silva, Oregon had stretches of 9-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7, polishing off the half with a 7-0 run in the last two minutes.
Young (10) and Richardson (8) combined for 18 in the first half and led an up-tempo transition attack. Oregon outscored Oregon State 18-0 in fastbreak points.
“That was the big turning point there,” Altman said. “We got a couple transition baskets, a couple baskets off steals… I think that was the big difference in that stretch. We ran the floor and got some good looks.”
A half-court heave from Williams Jr. pushed the Ducks’ lead to 44-25 at half. He scored 12 of his 14 in the frame and helped fuel a frenetic Oregon defense which tallied 21 points off 11 Beavers turnovers and held the Beavers to a mere 30% from the field. He was one of three Ducks with a pair of steals.
“When [Eric’s] locked in and focused, there’s probably not a better defender in all the Pac-12 conference,” assistant coach Mike Mennenga told the Daily Emerald.
The Ducks thrust a laboring Beavers offense — which entered the evening averaging just over 69 points per game — into a frenzy with their length and full-court pressure.
Harmon led the Ducks out of the gate in the second half. He hit a pair of 3’s, accounted for Oregon’s first 7 points of the half and Oregon State never crept any closer than 17 points as the Ducks shifted into cruise control thanks to continued hot-shooting.
“It feels good going into February knowing we have a nice stride…,” Young said. “We’re ready to get back into the lab.”
Oregon remains behind the eight-ball when it comes to seeding for March but has plentiful opportunities to pad its resume with 10 games to go in the regular season. The Ducks now face six straight road games starting with a chance at redemption against Colorado in Boulder on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. PST.
“I sure hope they know the significance of [that game],” Altman said. “You lose those home conference games, you’ve got to go figure out something on the road. It’ll be a big game for us Thursday night no doubt.”
