For all that No. 9 Washington State has accomplished this season, from its highest number of victories since 1991-92 to its first ranking since 1983, there’s one hurdle the Cougars just can’t seem to overcome – the Oregon Ducks.
The No. 23 Ducks, for the 13th straight time and 11th consecutive time at home, defeated Washington State Thursday 64-59 in front of 9,087 at McArthur Court.
“To beat them 13 times and to have maybe nine or ten of those games look just like this one, that’s just unbelievable,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said of the Cougars. “They’re going to beat us at some point.”
It didn’t happen Thursday.
In snapping Washington State’s five-game winning streak, Oregon’s victory puts a shiny seal on its NCAA Tournament bid and appears to have resolved some of its recent struggles in losing three straight games and six of their last eight. With a guaranteed three games remaining including the Pac-10 Tournament, Oregon sits at 21-7 and 9-7 in the conference, and for the first time in school history, the Ducks have beaten three top 10 teams in one season – a feat no other team in the country can claim.
“There’s been a lot of first times in school history with this team this year,” Kent said. “That locker room was on fire down there and maybe this is the win we need to re-energize ourselves coming down the stretch.”
To get the victory, Oregon had to come back from its largest deficit in a victory – 14 in the first half – and the Ducks, behind 19 second-half points from freshman guard Tajuan Porter, made the key baskets late.
Washington State led 52-46 with 6:40 to play when the 5-foot-6-inch Porter took over.
“I’ve just got confidence in my shot,” said Porter, who finished with 21 points. “There’s always room to step up…I took responsibility for that (today).”
He made all three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt to cut the deficit to two, then hit back-to-back threes to give Oregon its first lead of the second half at 56-55 as he pounded his chest to the crowd.
“Big shot Tajuan today,” said Oregon’s Aaron Brooks, who finished with 16 points including a late bucket that sealed the win. “Those are some gutsy shots. Most freshman don’t even take those shots.”
Porter again pushed the Ducks ahead with a pair of free throws with 2:59 to play. The Cougars missed on consecutive possessions and the Ducks extended its one-point lead with a tip-in from Maarty Leunen with 54 seconds remaining.
Washington State answered with a layup to cut it to one but Oregon ran the clock down to 14 seconds as Aaron Brooks drove the lane and scored with a lay-in to give the Ducks a 62-59 lead.
With fouls to give, Oregon pressured Washington State’s Kyle Weaver in the back court and the ball squirted free and out of bounds. Two free throws by Chamberlain Oguchi sealed the game with eight seconds remaining.
“This is huge for us just because the little slump we’ve been in the last couple of weeks,” Leunen said. “For us to beat a very good Washington State team that’s second in the Pac-10, that’s huge for us.”
Facing the 14-point first-half deficit with 7:37 to play, which the Cougars built on the strength of a 17-0 run after 10 straight misses by the Ducks, Oregon cut the lead down to five on a three at the buzzer by Leunen as the Cougars failed to score in the final 4:51 of the first half.
The end result is Washington State again likely feeling that familiar empty feeling against the Ducks. Oregon tied the game on a pair of Leunen free throws with half of a second remaining only to win in overtime in the first meeting against Washington State and have had many close games against the Cougars in the past.
Washington State outshot the Ducks 57 percent to 33 percent but the Ducks hit 11 three pointers and the Cougars committed 14 turnovers to the Ducks seven.
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