CORVALLIS, Ore. — No. 14 Oregon fell, 63-53, to an unranked Beavers squad on Saturday night’s trip to Corvallis. The loss marks their second straight loss to an unranked program. With their ranking sliding, their underperformance came down to a combination of defensive lapses and offensive inconsistencies.
The Ducks’ leading scorer through its matchup with Oregon State was Payton Pritchard. The guard was able to put up 16 points and nine assists throughout the affair, leading in both categories, respectively. He may have led his team on the offensive side, but Pritchard was by no means at his regular pace, particularly from the 3-point line, where the senior went 1-8 on the night.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Ducks were able to take a large lead at the beginning of the second half, but it wouldn’t remain that way. Due to streaky swings of momentum on offense, the Ducks allowed a hungry Beavers squad to fight back, regain the lead, and ultimately finish out the upset.
“We were just not getting any flow that second half,” said head coach Dana Altman following the loss. “[We] took a 10-point lead and then we scored 13 points for the rest of the game.”
The Ducks have also shown a lack of depth in the paint of late. Throughout their last two matchups, and especially in their loss to Oregon State, it has become apparent that the Ducks need more offense from their bigs. Freshman and senior forwards Shakur Juiston and Chandler Lawson started the game, but combined for only 12 points. CJ Walker, who acted as a sixth man for the Ducks, struggled as well, tallying only three points on the night.
Lawson left the game for a large portion of the second half after tweaking his right knee, making an already battered Ducks’ squad even further depleted.
“He [Lawson] is a big part of our team, so we need him out there” said Pritchard. “But when one man goes down, it’s got to be the next man up.”
Oregon hit resistance on the defensive side as well. With Francis Okoro and N’Faly Dante both out, the Ducks’ struggled mightily to contain Oregon State forwards Kylor Kelley and Tres Tinkle, who put up 14 and 13 points, respectively. Beavers guard Ethan Thompson led his team offensively, boasting 15 points and four assists by the final buzzer.
“Hopefully we can get Francis [Okoro] back and get Dante healthy one of these days and start executing some stuff and get some post presence,” said Altman. “That one stretch, they got seven inside buckets right at the rim in a row.”
Even after falling short in two straight games, and risking falling into unranked territory, all is still not lost for Oregon. With five of their remaining seven games at home in Matthew Knight Arena, Pritchard and the Ducks hope to turn things around in time for the postseason.
