The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team defeated the Stanford Cardinal 71-68 on Thursday night in Palo Alto, California.
Despite Oregon rolling out a new starting five and Stanford missing their top scorer in Oscar de la Silva, both teams established early offensive momentum.
For the Ducks, it was the LJ Figeuroa show early and often. The transfer hit two threes within minutes of the tip, and led the team with 13 first half points on 5/8 from the field. Without Figeuroa, the Ducks would’ve been 9/25 from the field and just 2/10 from deep in the first half.
“Offensively, he (Figeuroa) did some great things,” head coach Dana Altman said. “He looked very sharp in the first half.”
For Stanford, the offense looked more versatile. Without la Silva, the wealth was distributed evenly amongst the Stanford starting five with no starter taking more than four first half shots. Spencer Jones led the way with 6 points from ⅔ from deep.
With both teams looking offensively strong out of the gate, the score was 24-23 Oregon with four minutes left in the first half.
Neither team was able to take a sizable lead until three minutes left in the half when Oregon went on a 7-0 run. Heading into halftime, Oregon led 33-28.
The Ducks came out in the second half looking tired. Since the COVID-19 hiatus within the program in January, the team has been busier than usual making up games.
This game marked their fourth in the last week, and it was shown through missed shots from close, sloppy passes and airballs.
“We didn’t start the second half very well,” Altman said. “We weren’t ready to play.”
With 11 minutes left in the second half, Stanford climbed out to a 50-46 advantage led by Ziaire Williams who had eight straight points midway through the second half.
With Oregon down by four, it was time for Chris Duarte to take over. The senior popped off for nine straight points including a ferocious one-handed dunk over the Stanford defense. He finished with a game-high 24 points.
“He (Duarte) is a scorer,” Eugene Omoruyi said. “When he’s hot like that, we know we have to get him the ball.”
Even while Duarte found his stroke, Stanford wouldn’t back down. With seven minutes left in the second half, they were up by three while shooting 70% from the field and 3/4 from deep in the half.
The teams traded bucket for bucket in the next six minutes until the Ducks pulled slightly ahead. The score was 67-66 Ducks with a minute and a half left when Duarte was fouled. He hit both free throws to make it a three point game.
On the next possession, Stanford cut the lead back down to one with a Jaiden Delaire put-back layup. Delaire led the team with 15 total points, and with 45 seconds left, his team was down 69-68.
Having the hot hand all second half, Duarte got the ball next possession. He unloaded a 30-foot three pointer with just a few seconds left on the shot clock, and missed it. Thankfully, Eric Williams Jr. got the rebound, and the Ducks called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Duarte got the inbound pass and was immediately fouled with nine seconds left. He hit the first free throw but missed the second, giving Stanford one more chance down 70-68.
Oregon used their foul to give, to set up a potential game-winning scenario for Stanford with six seconds left. The inbound went to Williams, who immediately pulled a corner three that was too strong. Eugene Omoruyi got the rebound with .4 seconds left and was immediately fouled to ice the game.
Oregon took the game 71-68, moving to 15-4 on the season, and one game closer to first with USC also losing tonight. The Ducks will look to make it two in a row in the bay when they take on the California Bears on Feb. 27 in Berkeley.
