About 20 minutes after wrapping up a crucial 90-81 victory over Colorado, Garrett Sim and Devoe Joseph sat side-by-side at the podium — both dried but still wearing their game jerseys, both coming off scorching shooting performances, and both smiling because they knew they had done their job.
They’re seniors, after all, and come March it is the seniors that are expected to step up in the clutch. With a combined 43 points on 17-of-26 shooting against the Buffaloes on Thursday night, including a number of backbreaking conversions in the second half, their play had been nearly flawless — so much so that they could joke and laugh even with the bright lights of the cameras shining down on them.
As Sim began to describe some of Tyrone Nared’s high-flying rebounds near the end of regulation, Joseph interrupted the teammate to his right.
“Did y’all see that?” Joseph asked. “His head was like THIS much above the rim.”
He leveled his hand in front of his face, his eyes peaking just over the tops of his fingers. Laughter filled the room.
“That’s crazy,” he said. “It’s crazy.”
They could laugh now, their 21st win securely in hand. Such was not the case in the first half, as the Ducks (21-8, 12-5 Pac-12) were sluggish out of the gate and headed into the halftime break trailing 41-36. The offense was puttering around with just 36 points, while the defense had allowed Colorado (19-10, 11-6 Pac-12) to shoot an alarming 63 percent from the field. The home crowd of 10,056 had fallen silent, and it was a poor performance on all accounts — one that would have to change in a hurry. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
“We knew we needed more energy,” Sim said. “They made a few runs, and I think we just kind of got on our heels a little bit. We just knew we had to bring the first punch starting off in the second half.”
With junior center Tony Woods nursing a left shoulder injury on the bench, senior forward Olu Ashaolu started the second half in his place and quickly picked up a bucket on Oregon’s first possession. His third foul quickly pushed him right back to the bench, though, and a jump shot from Colorado’s Carlon Brown quickly pushed the lead right back to five.
It wouldn’t be until the 15:54 mark that Oregon finally exploded, using a 12-0 surge to take a nine-point lead that it would never relinquish. In one key sequence, a Carlos Emory three-point play was immediately followed by a Sim three-pointer and a layup in transition off a steal from Joseph. All of a sudden, the crowd was alive and Oregon was firmly in control of the game.
“Those big shots I think just got the crowd into it,” Sim said. “And that really helped us, and we fed off that.”
Oregon would push the lead to as much as 12, but the Buffaloes did not go away easily and a layup by Spencer Dinwiddie off a missed free throw cut the margin to four with just over a minute left. The ultimate difference makers came from an unlikely source, as Nared was intentionally fouled on three separate occasions and hit all six of his free throws to ice the victory. The skying block from the weak side that left Joseph speechless put a cap on what turned out to be a redeeming night for the senior.
“It was so good to see Tyrone finally get back in the flow,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “He’s just been kind of stuck in neutral here, and just flat-footed and not using his athleticism. But man, he made three athletic plays there down the stretch — couple big rebounds, big block, six-for-six from the free-throw line. I hope that gets him started again.”
In the end, it was Joseph who led the way with 24 points and five assists. Sim followed with 19 points on five-of-seven shooting from deep, while Emory came through with 14 and E.J. Singler added 10.
“Tonight was just a complete team effort,” Joseph said. “Everyone stepped up at key times today, from Carlos to Tyrone making huge stops and hitting free throws, and the fans were great. Just a complete team effort.”
Seniors lead the way as Oregon men’s basketball runs past Colorado, 90-81
Patrick Malee
February 29, 2012
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