No. 17 Oregon men’s basketball lost, 79-72, to the Colorado Buffaloes Thursday afternoon in Boulder, Colorado.
Dana Altman has never won at the CU Events Center. His record sunk to 0-8 in Boulder following this afternoon’s loss.
Colorado began dominating the boards early and got off to a 12-6 lead, capitalizing on multiple second chances and two Oregon turnovers.
To counter, the Ducks scored on three straight possessions, then forced a 10-second violation to tie the game at 12 heading into the under-12 media timeout. Chandler Lawson made it four straight scoring possessions with a quick three pointer out of the break, giving Oregon the lead.
The Ducks led for much of the last ten minutes of the first half as Colorado, the best three point shooting team in the conference, struggled from beyond the arc going 2-for-14.
Eugene Omoruyi was busy in the first, leading all scorers with 12 points and five rebounds. Chris Duarte, the reigning Pac-12 player of the week, added 10 points.
In the last three minutes of the half, Colorado’s star point guard McKinkey Wright IV scored seven points after starting the game off shooting 0-for-5.
His spark helped surge the Buffaloes to a 33-31 edge at halftime.
It was all Colorado to start the second. The Buffaloes went on a 14-2 run to blast off to a 14 point lead.
But, once again, Oregon countered.
To break the drought, Eric Williams Jr. scored his first points of the game on a 3-pointer. L.J. Figueroa then forced a steal on the other end, which turned into a second chance bucket by Duarte.
Shortly after, Duarte forced an offensive foul on Colorado big man Evan Battey, who responded fiercely to the call and was given a technical foul on top of it.
Duarte drained both technical foul shots, capping a 7-0 Oregon run. Suddenly, the Ducks were back in the game.
Both offenses began to stall while the Buffaloes’ 3-point shooting woes continued. Even so, Colorado held a 49-42 lead at the under-12 timeout.
Fatigue seemed to set in as each team racked up fouls.
Colorado went on another scoring run, led once again by Wright IV. The Buffaloes led by 12 at the eight minute mark.
Down 10, Figueroa came out of a timeout with a quick layup. The Ducks turned on the pressure and forced another turnover, leading to a 3-point-play by Lawson.
Oregon trailed by five.
The Ducks had a chance to take over the game, but failed to capitalize and made crucial mistakes to give Colorado another double digit lead with five minutes left.
Oregon’s full court pressure caused trouble for the Buffaloes and the Ducks fought back to trim the deficit to seven with just over three to play.
Once again, Colorado found a way to steal Oregon’s momentum.
Wright IV converted a wild three-point play late in the shot clock that put Colorado up nine.
Duarte played outstandingly. The Dominican Republic native converted 2-of-3 free throws, then nailed a three after Oregon forced another turnover, making it a four-point game with 1:37 left in the contest.
Oregon was unsuccessful in retaining the lead, despite a late three from Figueroa.
Wright IV, who finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, dribbled out the clock to finish off the Ducks. Jeriah Horne scored 17 for the Buffaloes and Battey recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Duarte again filled up the box score. The senior had 27 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Omoruyi notched 18 points.
The Ducks were out-rebounded 40-29, underlined by Colorado’s 13 offensive boards.
The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak for the Ducks, who are now 8-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Oregon’s next game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at Utah.
