Few minutes went by in Saturday’s Civil War game between Oregon and Oregon State in which the Ducks weren’t in control.
Before a sellout crowd of 12,364 at Matthew Knight Arena, Oregon cruised to a 91-81 victory over its in-state rival and moved back into a tie with Arizona for first place in the Pac-12.
Oregon State (15-10, 6-8 Pac-12) came into Saturday allowing 70.2 points per game, third best in the Pac-12. Oregon had struggled with Oregon State’s defense in each team’s Pac-12 opener on Jan. 3.
“We were ready, I think everybody was ready to play this game,” Chris Boucher said. “We knew (Oregon State) was the first game that we lost, so we wanted to come back against them and make them think they wouldn’t win this game.”
It was a stark contrast to that first Civil War matchup in Corvallis, where the Ducks played uninspired basketball en route to a 70-57 defeat.
On Saturday, however, the Ducks totaled 51 points at halftime. The Ducks’ offense routinely found open lanes against the Beavers’ 2-3 zone, and they finished the first half shooting 51 percent from the field.
“I thought our ball movement was pretty good,” head coach Dana Altman said. “I thought all the guys made the extra pass. I just don’t remember many bad shots that we took.”
Tyler Dorsey tied his career-high with 25 points, bouncing back from two subpar performances on the road. Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook added 17 and 16 points respectively.
Perhaps the biggest surprise: Oregon made 29-of-33 free throws (89 percent), far exceeding its 69 percent average for the season.
Defensively, Oregon never allowed the Beavers to get into much of a rhythm. Gary Payton II was limited to 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Oregon State had just 28 points at halftime, before the Ducks let up in the second half.
Boucher set the tone on defense, forcing three steals and blocking three shots. All three of his steals came in transition, which helped the Ducks establish their press and score 10 fast-break points.
“When he’s active, he changes the game,” Altman said. “That’s the word we’ve been using with all of our guys – you’ve got to stay active. I thought our activity, in that first half in particular, we flew around pretty good.”
Oregon’s win erased a forgettable weekend in the Bay Area, where the Ducks lost to Cal and Stanford. Though the losses humbled the Ducks, Altman opted not to harp on them too much. Every team in the Pac-12 has struggled on the road at times this season, and the Ducks are no exception.
“We had a decent week of practice, I didn’t want to make a big deal about last weekend,” Altman said. “You see teams all over the country that don’t have all good outings. It’s a long season. I was very disappointed so I was hoping they would play focused and alert.”
Similar to the conference-opening loss at Oregon State, in which the Duck subsequently won eight of their next nine, last weekend’s road sweep served as another wake-up call for Oregon.
“It sucks that that had to our wake-up call, dropping two games,” Cook said. “We just don’t want that feeling again, we don’t want to lose any games and every game is just as important.”
Oregon’s win was also its 23^rd consecutive at home, tying the longest streak in team history. The Ducks have yet to lose at home this season. With two home games remaining, first on Wednesday against Washington State, the Ducks know what they have to do to keep their home winning streak intact.
“If we’re gonna win Wednesday night, we’ve gotta bring intensity. It’s pretty obvious when we haven’t been focused and really intense… Conversely when we are, it really shows too.”
Wednesday’s game against Washington State is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m.
Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner