On the same day as the Oregon-Washington football game was cancelled due to COVID, the Oregon men’s basketball team travelled to Seattle to take on the Huskies. 

After taking a ten point lead into halftime, Oregon was challenged down the stretch but held on for the 74-71 victory.

Washington closed the gap to 69-68 with 1:40 left in the game. Eric Williams Jr. drained a corner three to put the Ducks up 72-68, seemingly icing the game. However, Oregon let Washington back into the game when RaeQuon Battle was fouled after making a jumper, putting the Huskies down one. 

The Ducks were saved by their defense after Washington’s Nate Roberts had his shot blocked in transition, giving Oregon the ball back with 17 seconds left. On the next possession, Chris Duarte was trapped by the Huskies and seemingly stepped out of bounds. Duarte, instead, benefited from a foul call and split a pair of free throws. Quade Green missed a 3-point jumper on Washington’s next drive, forcing them to foul N’Faly Dante. Dante went 1-1 on a pair free throws to put Oregon up 74-71 with less than a second to go. 

Oregon experienced shooting problems the whole night as the team shot an measly 38% from the floor and a woeful 21% from the three. The Ducks did most of their damage around the paint. Eugene Omoruyi led Oregon with 14 points. 

With 10 minutes left in the game, Washington went on two scoring runs that almost sunk the Ducks. The first cut Oregon’s lead from 60-49 to 60-57. The second, more damaging, run occurred with under five minutes left as Oregon went from being up seven to being up a single point. However, on both occasions, Oregon responded. 

The Ducks won because they forced 16 turnovers from a sloppy Washington team. Oregon generated 22 points off turnovers and the offense flowed better in transition. Oregon was, also, better on the boards, out rebounding the Huskies 40-30 and the Ducks were able to snag 18 offensive rebounds. 

The winners of four straight games, the Ducks will take on UCLA on Dec. 23.