SEATTLE — Two nights after their best performance of the season, the Oregon Ducks fell right back into the traps that had befallen them throughout the nonconference season.
Lackluster shooting, poor passing and porous perimeter defense doomed the Ducks as they fell 76-60 to the Washington Huskies at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle on Saturday night.
After Oregon (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12 Conference) shot 32.3 percent from the field (5 for 23 from three-point range), ran up a 11-to-15 assist-to-turnover ratio and gave up 12-for-22 three-point shooting to Washington (8-5, 2-0 Pac-12), head coach Dana Altman credited the Huskies’ length and athleticism as a reason why the Ducks struggled to score.
“We just couldn’t guard their dribble-drives, we gave up a lot of open threes,” Altman said. “There wasn’t much defense there at all.”
The Ducks were led offensively by junior forward E.J. Singler, who had 20 points and nine rebounds with 2-for-7 three-point shooting, and by senior guard Garrett Sim, who had 13 points and two steals.
Singler credited Washington’s pressure for disrupting his team’s offensive rhythm, which had been nearly flawless as Oregon shot better than 70 percent against Washington State two days prior.
“Defensively, (the Huskies) took us out of a lot of our sets and we didn’t move with the ball as well as we did against Washington State,” Singler said. “It showed with our shooting percentage. We just didn’t get as good of looks.”
Senior forward Olu Ashaolu, who had six points and and a team-season-high 12 rebounds, got a technical foul for a scuffle with Washington guard Tony Wroten and forward Darnell Gant early in the second half as Oregon trailed by 11. The Ducks closed to within four points shortly thereafter on a 7-0 run, but two C.J. Wilcox three-pointers put the Huskies back up eight points with 11 minutes to go. The defender who lost track of Wilcox on both plays was Oregon senior guard Devoe Joseph, who also had a terrible game offensively, going 1 of 13 from the field and scoring four points.
Despite foul trouble for Washington point guard Abdul Gaddy and small forward Terrence Ross, the Huskies were able to make a barrage of three-pointers, including six by Wilcox, who finished with 24 points. Freshman Tony Wroten scored 17 points and also had five assists, helping fill the void left by Gaddy.
Seven-foot-one-inch Washington center Aziz N’Diaye gave Oregon problems offensively and defensively, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots.
Singler took little solace in his team’s split of its two-game series against the Pac-12’s Washington schools, as the Ducks were the only team in the conference with a road victory in its first weekend of play..
“It’s a good road win for us against Washington State but we really wanted this one too,” Singler said. “I’ve got to give the Huskies a lot of credit for how they played.”
The Ducks’ next two games are at Matthew Knight Arena against the Bay Area schools, with Oregon hosting Stanford Jan. 5 and California Jan. 8. The Huskies, along with the Cardinal and Golden Bears are tied atop the Pac-12 at 2-0.
Poor passing, pourous defense dooms Oregon Ducks against Washington Huskies
Kenny Ocker
December 30, 2011
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