Malik Hairston drilled two three-pointers in the final 12 seconds of Thursday’s game to propel Oregon to a 52-50 win at Washington State.
Hairston’s final shot slipped through the net with four-tenths of a second remaining.
“We’ve been on the other end of that this year; that’s the way the ball bounces,” said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, whose team improved to 4-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 10-8 overall. “We did just enough things right coming down the stretch to win the ball game.”
Washington State (9-6, 2-4) forward Ivory Clark missed two free throws with 10.7 remaining after Hairston’s first three. Oregon’s Jordan Kent came up with the rebound on the second miss and got the ball to Aaron Brooks in the backcourt.
“I just happened to be at the right place at the right time most of the time,” Jordan Kent said. “I just try to make sure I get somewhere underneath the bucket. It’s just a fight for the ball. I know that that is what I do best and that is what I will try to do every day and stay consistent with that.”
Brooks pushed the ball up the court, and when it looked like he was stopped without a shot, he flipped the ball to Hairston in the left corner for a contested three-pointer.
“We did a great job down the stretch,” coach Kent said. “Jordan grabbed a gutsy rebound. Aaron made a great move, found Malik in the corner and he hit a great three for us.”
The Ducks made only 1 of 13 from beyond the arc before the final two by Hairston.
“It’s great to just have this momentum going into this next basketball game,” Hairston said. “I just thought ‘Catch the ball and shoot the ball with confidence.’ I didn’t know how much time was left. We had enough time to get the shot off, (I) shot it with confidence and knocked it down.”
Jordan Kent led the Ducks with season highs in points (13) and rebounds (12).
“His energy carried us tonight at times when we were really stagnant,” coach Kent said of Jordan Kent.
Oregon struggled offensively midway through the second half, scoring only two points during a stretch of almost nine minutes. Jordan Kent and Brooks each made one of two free throws to score the Ducks’ only points from the 14:39 mark until Ivan Johnson knocked down a bucket with just less than six minutes remaining in the game.
“They were defending us; we were defending them,” coach Kent said. “I thought we were taking some tough shots and not making very good decisions during that stretch, but we did a great job of defending at the other end of the floor.”
During that stretch the Ducks allowed only six points.
Oregon made 7 of 14 free throws, but missed two out of three opportunities to complete a three-point play. However, the Ducks outrebounded the Cougars 39-22, including 16 offensive boards.
The Ducks have won five straight in Pullman, Wash., and 17 of 18 against the Cougars.
“Every time we come up here, at least nine out of the last 11 times, it has been an overtime game, a last-second shot, or a defensive stand. … Fortunately for us, we’ve come out on the winning side of those, and we’ve played really well up here,” coach Kent said.
Brooks scored 10 points to complete Ducks that scored in double figures.
Overcoming the trend
In search of its second road win of the season, Oregon faces No. 10 Washington (15-2, 4-2) Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Bank of America Arena. However, the Ducks hope history doesn’t repeat itself as they have a career record of 31-104 at Washington.
Oregon’s slowed-down, methodical approach in recent weeks is the opposite of Washington’s style of play. Coach Kent has been adamant that while the parity and style are very similar from the top to the bottom of the league, the Huskies like to push the ball up the court.
And it shows.
Washington leads the league in scoring (88.4), field-goal percentage (49.6 percent), rebounds (39.9), assists (18.9) and blocked shots (4.5) per game.
Four starters average scoring in double figures, led by seniors
Brandon Roy (18.8 points), Jamaal Williams (14.9) and Bobby Jones (11.4). Freshman Jon Brockman completes the group with 10.2 points per game.
Washington swept the series last season, winning 77-56 in Seattle and 95-88 in overtime in Eugene.
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