Although USC came into Thursday’s game against Oregon sitting 0-5 in Pac-12 Conference play, the team had found one calling card this season: defense. On Thursday night the Trojans were able to force 19 turnovers, but the Ducks still found a way to win, 65-62. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
Oregon used clutch shooting from the free-throw line and long range to bring down USC. Senior guards Garrett Sim and Devoe Joseph combined to go six of six from the charity stripe late in the game, and the Ducks shot 37.5 percent from deep to claim a fifth-consecutive victory against the Trojans.
“Going down the stretch, we definitely wanted to get the ball in the foul shooters’ hands,” said Sim. “That was definitely the mind-set for us.”
This season, Oregon has made a habit of closing out its opponent at the line. Coming into Thursday’s matchup, the Ducks were shooting 88 percent (44 of 50) from the charity stripe in the final five minutes of games decided by less than 10 points. Sim and Joseph had been even more impressive. That duo, along with fellow guards E.J. Singler and Johnathan Loyd, had combined to go a 38-of-41 (92.7 percent) in those late-game free throw situations.
“For the most part, (Joseph and Sim) have been rock solid,” said head coach Dana Altman.
The Ducks were equally sharp from outside the arc. Sim went 5-of-7 from the field (including 4-of-6 from three-point range) to score 20 points. He’s now led the team in scoring six times this year. Joseph hit a big three to put the Ducks up 59-54 with 2:31 remaining in the game and went 4-of-10 from the field to score 16 points and reach double figures for the 12th time in 13 games this season.
“We’ve got a lot of seniors and a lot of guys that have played a lot of minutes,” said Sim. “So, coming down the stretch, we just kind of come together and make the big plays that, in the past few years, we just haven’t made.”
The Ducks’ choppy offense also received a boost from senior forward Olu Ashaolu, who had an effective bench effort (5-of-6 from the field, 11 points) to offset a collection of sloppy mistakes for the home team.
“You’re fortunate if you have only nine assists and nine turnovers and you still win the game,” said Altman. “So, (that’s) a lot of bad offense.”
“To be a good team you’ve got to eliminate (turnovers) as much as possible,” said Joseph. “The good thing is we still got the win with 19 turnovers. We definitely know other games we’re gonna have to turn that around.”
Oregon had a series of egregious gaffes in the first half, but the struggles should have been anticipated — the team was tasked with facing one of the stingier defenses in the Pac-12. Coming into the game, USC had held seven of its 18 opponents to their lowest scoring output of the season to date. Seven of the last 11 opponents had scored under 60 points for a 58-point average in that stretch. @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/usc-m-baskbl-sched.html@@
Unfortunately for USC — which is last in the conference in scoring offense, free throw percentage, field goal percentage and free throws attempted — the team had managed less than 60 points 10 times in that same period (51.3 points per game). The Trojans were led on offense by sophomore guard Maurice Jones who went 9 of 23 from the field for 22 points.
Thursday’s win was characteristic of an Oregon team that’s now 9-0 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. Their plan: Put the ball in the hands of veteran guards down the stretch. Against an offensively challenged USC team, that strategy generated enough success to drop the Trojans to 0-6 in Pac-12 play. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=235&SPSID=4294@@