Early in the week, there was one question surrounding Thursday night’s matchup between Oregon and Washington: How would the Ducks’ backcourt matchup with Husky standouts Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross?
Wroten (16.7 points per game) and Ross (15.2) both rank in the top five in Pac-12 scoring and have proven to be a handful for conference opponents this season. Their size — Wroten, a true freshman point guard, is listed a 6-foot-5, while Ross plays a lanky 6-6 wing — and athleticism has garnered numerous of attention from NBA scouts. @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/wash-m-baskbl-mtt.html@@
Head coach Dana Altman expressed plenty of concern about containing the duo when he met with reporters before Tuesday’s practice. Couple that with a heartbreaking loss to Colorado last Saturday in Boulder, and no one was exactly sure how the Ducks would respond.
Those questions were all but silenced in the opening two minutes of play, when Oregon senior Garrett Sim scored the first eight points of the game on back-to-back three-pointers to put the Ducks ahead, 8-0, and the Ducks never trailed on their way to a 82-57 victory. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
“Garrett really got us going in the first half with a quick eight points,” junior forward E.J. Singler said. “And we just went off from there.”
The senior from Portland was absolutely lights out from the field in the first half, scoring all 13 of his points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 3 for 4 from behind the three-point line, and also dished out five assists along the way. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
Sim’s hot hand was the catalyst in Oregon’s wins over USC and UCLA in mid-January when he made 7 of 13 three-pointers in those two games. However, he cooled off shortly after, making just five threes over the next three games. Whatever was missing during that stint was back on display against the Huskies.
“He was a little disappointed with the way he shot the ball the last couple ball games,” Altman said. “Garrett’s a competitor, and he was disappointed with the way he played (last week). He got a couple good looks there, and he knocked ‘em down. That fires anybody up.”
It was Sim who got things started, but his teammates didn’t falter in picking up the slack around him. Oregon shot 64.3 percent from the field (18 for 28) in the first half, including a 75 percent clip from distance. They continued to knocked down open shots in the second half, and shot 56.4 percent for the game against Washington’s 36.4.
Meanwhile, Wroten, a 57.1 percent free-throw shooter on the season, missed his first four attempts from the foul line and struggled to get the Huskies going offensively. He and Ross shot a combined 2 for 11 with four turnovers in the first half, which led to Washington’s 23-point deficit at intermission. @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/wroten_tony00.html@@
The Wroten-Ross tandem showed a few flashes of top-tier athleticism after intermission, particularly with Wroten’s four steals, but neither found their flow on offense. Wroten paced the Huskies with 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting, and Ross added eight points, shooting 4 for 12.
But even with a slightly improved second half from the Huskies, Oregon never let its foot off the gas pedal over the final 20 minutes en route to its most impressive victory of the season.
“We need that kind of excitement all the time,” Altman said. “We’ve got three home games left, and if we don’t get off to a great start we still need that enthusiasm and that passion.”
Though Sim was kept in check after half, junior Carlos Emory was right there to keep the momentum in the Ducks’ favor. Emory scored 10 of his career-high 16 points in the second half, making 7 of 8 shots from the floor to go with eight rebounds.
“Carlos has been great,” senior Jeremy Jacob said. “Great energy, he’s been scoring, he’s been rebounding. A lot of great plays from Carlos. Helped out a lot.”
Singler (13 points, eight rebounds) and senior Devoe Joseph (13 points, three assists) also scored in double figures for the Ducks. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@