The Oregon men’s basketball team rebounded from its blowout loss to No. 14 Washington on Thursday with a 55-52 victory against Washington State on Saturday at Friel Court in Pullman, Wash.
Cougar guard Thomas Kelati missed a pair of three-pointers in the game’s final seconds — the first was blocked by Oregon guard Jordan Kent — as the Ducks held off a much-improved Washington State team.
“Every year there’s that game that sits there and gives you an opportunity to break through,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent told 590 KUGN after the game. “Maybe this is it. Losing to Washington — getting embarrassed at times — and to regroup and play in a key game against a team playing good basketball, hopefully it will get us over the hump.”
After trailing most of the game, the Ducks (11-3 overall, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) took a 53-52 lead on a three-point play by point guard Aaron Brooks with 41.7 seconds remaining. Oregon padded its lead when
freshman forward Maarty Leunen drilled a pair of free throws with 6.6 seconds left. Despite pulling out the late victory, the Ducks almost gave the game back to the Cougars (8-7, 3-3). With 24.9 seconds remaining and Oregon ahead by one, Washington State freshman guard Josh Akognon missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Oregon forward Ian Crosswhite grabbed the rebound and threw a bounce pass toward the official, thinking Akognon had a second free throw coming. Brooks, who was coming back to get the ball from Crosswhite, was able to keep the pass from going out of bounds and the Ducks maintained possession.
“The guy I’m most satisfied for is Ian Crosswhite,” Coach Kent said. “Because if he threw that ball out of bounds and Aaron doesn’t save it, he walks home. He literally walks back to Eugene because that is a veteran player having a mental lapse like that.”
Crosswhite finished with six turnovers for a total of 13 giveaways in the past two games. He also finished with four points.
Freshman guard Bryce Taylor led Oregon with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting to rescue a sputtering Duck offense. The Encino, Calif., native connected on six of eight three-pointers in 33 minutes. It was the second consecutive game in which Taylor stepped up as the main offensive threat for the Ducks.
“I thought he was fabulous,” Coach Kent said. “I told him right before the Washington game that it’s time for him to get going and step up because he has a big-time package in his game. He was unreal tonight offensively.”
Freshman guard Malik Hairston added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting for Oregon, while Brooks was limited to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Kelati led Washington State with 15 points, while Derrick Low added 10.
“This team did a great job in a very difficult environment to play in without a lot people here,” Coach Kent said. “It’s cold outside, there’s snow on the ground and they knew they have a long bus ride in front of them.”

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