The No. 7 Oregon Ducks learned just how much they really do need senior point guard Aaron Brooks.
The Ducks fought an uphill battle nearly all night against the Washington Huskies Thursday, eventually falling for just the second time all season, 89-77 at Bank of America Arena in Seattle where the Ducks have now lost six consecutive games.
Oregon was without Brooks, the Pacific-10 Conference’s leading scorer, who served the second of his two-game suspension stemming from an incident with Washington’s Ryan Appleby in last season’s Pac-10 Tournament.
The Ducks missed him Thursday against a young and hungry Huskies team that desperately needed the victory after starting conference play at 1-6.
“Obviously, we missed Brooks tonight but at the same time, there were some things that we could have done in the game that could have helped because I thought they played harder than us at times,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said in a broadcast interview. “Those things have nothing to do with Aaron Brooks.”
The Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak and snapped Oregon’s five-game winning streak in the process, thanks to a career night from sophomore point guard Justin Dentmon, who finished with a career-high 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
He helped keep the Ducks at bay nearly all game. In fact, Oregon led on just three separate occasions the entire game – the final time coming with 13:23 to play in the second half after a technical foul by Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, which capped a 25-12 Oregon run in the second half – but each time the Huskies either regained the lead or tied it.
“We just can’t use that as an excuse that we didn’t have Aaron Brooks,” Kent said. “This was an opportunity for this team to grow and we didn’t get it done.
“We really never controlled the game. We got up a couple times in the second half but we really never gained complete control where we were in the driver’s seat.”
The Ducks pulled within one on two separate occasions but a Dentmon drive and then a three by Appleby, who had 16 points, kept the Ducks looking up.
Oregon lost despite shooting 55 percent to Washington’s 53 percent and despite six players in double figures led by Bryce Taylor’s 19 points. Chamberlain Oguchi, earning the starting role with Brooks out of the lineup scored 15 while Tajuan Porter added 11, Hairston 10, Leunen 10 and seven-foot junior Ray Schafer, who had scored 17 total points all season coming into the game, added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench.
Yet Oregon committed 18 turnovers that led to 25 Washington points and were outrebounded 33-22, including 13 offensive rebounds for the Huskies inside, who were led by freshman Spencer Hawes’ 15 points and four rebounds and Jon Brockman’s 14 points and team-high eight rebounds.
“Too many turnovers, too many second-chance points off of not keeping a good basketball team off the boards,” Kent said.
Still, the Ducks battled admirably despite multiple double-digit deficits, including a 12-2 deficit to start the game and an 11-point deficit at the half. Oregon went on a 14-2 run in the first half to take a three-point lead and a 20-8 run to open the second half to take a one point lead.
“That’s one of the positives in the game and positives in this team,” Kent said. “They have an ability to keep the focus and stay in the game.”
The Ducks can also take solace in the fact that the last time Oregon was 6-1 in the conference with a loss at Washington, during the 2001-02 season, the Ducks went on to win the Pac-10 Championship and made a run to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.
“You don’t get too up, you don’t get too down, you just get ready for the next one,” Kent said. “So let’s learn from the game and let’s make the adjustments, let’s get Aaron back and let’s try to get a split on this road.”
The Ducks will need that mentality as they battle No. 20 Washington State (17-3, 6-2 Pac-10) for conference positioning at Friel Court, a place the Cougars have not lost yet in Pac-10 play this season after soundly defeating Oregon State 70-55 Thursday night. Washington State’s only conferences losses this season came at UCLA by three and at Stanford in overtime.
Oregon puts its five-game winning streak in Pullman, Wash. on the line.
“We need to get our energy back and obviously Aaron will help coming back to the floor but that’s going to be a tough environment,” Kent said. “They are going to hold us accountable to every aspect of defense and offense. They are a tough-minded basketball team. We need to get our toughness back.”
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