With seven seconds left in the game and the score 71-70 Washington State, Oregon sophomore guard Malcolm Armstead fouled Cougar Reggie Moore. Moore calmly walked to the line and hit the first shot. Then, after a timeout by WSU, he missed the second, and Oregon scooped up the rebound.
Senior guard Tajuan Porter raced down the middle of the court, splitting defenders all the way to the rim. The shot bounced off the rim and backboard, but just before the buzzer sounded, freshman forward E.J. Singler managed to tip the ball into the hoop, tying the game at 72.
“He’s been doing it all season,” Porter said. “He’s been our most consistent player … it was a big tip-in and it extended my senior season.”
It was a crazy come-from-behind sequence aided by some missed free throws from Washington State, and the Ducks (16-15) made it to the quarterfinals of the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament with a 82-80 win in overtime.
“Big tip-in,” head coach Ernie Kent said of Singler’s shot. “It’s probably the third or fourth time this season we’ve gotten a big shot when we needed it. Just a huge shot to continue our season.”
Kent, who has reportedly already been fired by the University of Oregon, was nothing but smiles after the game. His Ducks had just proved a lot of naysayers wrong in beating the Cougars three times. His senior guard Porter led the way, finishing with 32 points, and Oregon will live on one more day.
“It truly was his senior night,” associate head coach Mike Dunlap said. “He got emotional, even if he didn’t show it outwardly, but he did not want this season to end.”
“He put us on his back.”
Porter scored Oregon’s last six points, including the first two of overtime, to make sure they would play the California Golden Bears today.
“Well, I’m the senior, I’ve been through it all,” Porter said. “I just took what the defense game me. Penetrate, took good shots and got the victory.”
He hit three three-pointers as well, inching him within one of tying Salim Stoudamire for most all-time in Pac-10 history. But Porter almost didn’t get the chance. Oregon had a 12-point lead at 58-46 with 10:47. But the Cougars erased the deficit and took a 72-70 lead in the closing seconds.
“We’ve got a little mojo to us,” Dunlap said. “There’s enough flowing through the guys that we’ll be fresh going into tomorrow.”
Oregon shot 50.8 percent for the game, and Teondre Williams and Singler both scored 11 points. But it was Washington State’s 19 offensive rebounds that almost kept the Ducks from making it to the second day of the tournament.
“Credit Washington State for putting that in,” Dunlap said. “It was part of their strategy … we went a little bit bigger to neutralize it, and that didn’t even work.”
Oregon has now won four of its last five games but has not beaten California this season. Game time is set for 2:40 p.m.
“This was just the first game,” Porter said. “We blew it out of our system and now we know what to expect. But it’s going to be a tough game tomorrow.”
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