It’s official: The Ducks are on a hot streak.
The men’s basketball team (12-11, 5-6 Pacific-10 Conference) upset No. 20 Washington (15-7, 7-4 Pac-10) 81-76 on Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.
It was the team’s fourth win in its last five appearances.
For head coach Dana Altman, it was also a sign that his team is finally coming together.
“When you beat a team like that, you know that you’ve done something,” Altman said. “Today was a significant win.”
Things got off to an ominous start in the first half when the Ducks took four early three-pointers, missing all of them.
Washington’s Matthew Bryan-Amaning registered four early points in the paint, and Altman was forced to call timeout after just two minutes had passed.
“We took four threes and the ball never got inside,” Altman said. “You’ve got to get the ball in the paint, either driving it or posting it.”
After imploring his team to play through senior forward Joevan Catron, Altman saw immediate improvements coming out of the timeout. Catron received the ball and was quickly doubled-teamed.
Instead of forcing up a contested shot, he kicked the ball out to junior guard Garrett Sim, who in turn hit sophomore forward E.J. Singler for a wide-open three-pointer.
With that, Oregon was off and running.
Junior forward Tyrone Nared drilled a three of his own, and the Ducks used a 10-2 run to grab a 10-6 lead.
Altman’s swarming defensive style was also used to full effect, and Oregon capitalized on Husky turnovers to take a 29-20 lead late in the first half. Washington would eventually cut the lead to three by halftime, but the Ducks had certainly made their presence felt.
“Points off of turnovers are what helped us,” Nared said. “That’s what gives us a little edge right there.”
Still, the Huskies came out with a purpose in the early moments of the second half. Justin Holiday hit a three-pointer just six seconds in to tie the game, and it was apparent Washington would not go down without a fight.
Catron made a layup to take the lead back for the Ducks, and the teams traded points until the 15-minute mark. Leading by just two at the time, Oregon put together a 6-0 run that pushed the margin to 55-47. All of a sudden, it looked as if the Ducks were pulling away.
Yet, upsetting a ranked team is never that easy. With four minutes left, Holiday made another three to trim Oregon’s lead to 70-68. From there, star point guard Isaiah Thomas took over. The junior scored six points in the final three minutes, cutting and weaving through Oregon players on his way to the hoop.
“Thomas was taking the ball to the paint, and we never got him slowed down,” Altman said. “He shot four layups there … we know we can’t give up those baskets.”
With so little time remaining, however, Thomas’ efforts were not enough to put Washington over the hump. The Huskies were forced to foul Oregon to stop the clock, and Singler hit four free throws to ice the game.
When the buzzer sounded, Catron led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds. Singler added 16 points, while Nared chipped in 14.
As a team, Oregon forced 15 turnovers and came up with nine steals. The Ducks scored 26 points off of those turnovers, which helped offset a 6-for-21 performance from beyond the arc.
Altman, meanwhile, was particularly pleased with his team’s offensive efficiency.
“We had 21 assists on 28 buckets today,” Altman said. “That’s a great stat.”
In the end, it was another convincing sign that Oregon has turned a corner.
“It’s huge,” Catron said. “You know we’re getting a little bit of momentum right now, so we’re just going to try to keep rolling.”
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