Oregon, one of the first four teams out of the tournament according to some, looked to avenge its overtime loss to Arizona State from Dec 5 on Thursday.
Nearing the 5 minute mark of the second half, ASU’s Jalen Graham made a quick move at the 3-point line and drove down the paint, slamming the ball down as he made a raising the roof motion, running back on defense.
A few moments later, DJ Horne got the ball on a fast break and threw it up to Kimani Lawrence, who completed the alley-oop as the Desert Financial Arena erupted. The Ducks called a timeout, down 20 with just over 5 minutes to go in the game.
The Sun Devils would go on to win 81-57 as the Ducks never had an answer for ASU’s shooting display. Horne, Lawrence and Marreon Jackson scored 16 for ASU while Graham put up 18, as the team shot 57% from the field. With the win, the Sun Devils sweep the season series versus the Ducks for the first time since 2011.
“When somebody shoots 57% against you and out rebounds you by 11, I’m not sure what you run offensively is going to make a difference,” head coach Dana Altman said.
A combination of ASU’s lights-out shooting and Oregon being freezing cold from 3 helped kickstart the Sun Devils’ dominant night.
ASU finished the half shooting 53% (14-26) from the field and 45% (5-11) from 3. Much of this had to do with Marreon Jackson, who got 16 first half points, going 4-5 from 3.
The Ducks, shooting 25% from 3 in their last three games, remained substandard, going 1-13 from downtown in the first 20 minutes. Not able to connect from deep, the Ducks were forced to take the ball inside, scoring 18 of their 30 first half points in the paint.
“I think we are a better shooting team than that…. We had been shooting at 36-37% (from 3) and it’s really slipped here in the last few games,” Altman said.
The Ducks went into the locker room down 36-30, looking for a much better second frame.
Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse for the Ducks as they began the half 1-4 from the field with 5 turnovers.
Arizona State caught fire, taking advantage of the Ducks’ sloppy play. With Jackson taking over for the Sun Devils in the first frame, Horne, Lawrence and Graham took control in the second half.
The three would go on to combine for 14-21 shooting and 38 second half points.
ASU continued to roll the entire half, outscoring the Ducks by 18 in the frame. From turnovers to missed free throws, nothing was going well for Oregon as the Sun Devils dominated, winning the game by 24.
“We didn’t shoot it well, but we hung in there in the first half, only down 6 even though we had some good looks that we didn’t hit,” Altman said. “The second half, we didn’t get any stops, we didn’t get any rebounds, had nine turnovers; it was just a really poor performance.”
The Ducks’ schedule isn’t favorable, playing the top three Pac-12 teams in their next three games. With this loss, Oregon will most likely need to win the Pac-12 tournament in order to clinch a spot in March Madness.
They will try to get back in the win column against No. 3 Arizona in Tucson, AZ on Saturday at 7 p.m.
