Let’s put Oregon’s game against Washington State on Saturday into context.
Washington, coming off a 10-point loss to the Ducks on Thursday at McArthur Court, traveled to Corvallis and stunned Oregon State, 103-99, in overtime.
Contrast that with the Ducks’ game against Washington State. It was a contest that paled in comparison to the speed the Huskies exhibited against the Beavers.
Oregon (8-4 overall, 3-2 Pac-10) could have only dreamed of 103 against the Cougars. The Ducks battled, pushed and drove to a 60-45 defeat of Washington State in front of 9,087 at McArthur Court.
Statistics would do no justice to the style of game Washington State (8-8, 2-4) forced upon the Ducks. However, they would provide an interesting window through which to view how Oregon got its third win of the Pacific-10 Conference season.
The Ducks, to the amazement of head coach Ernie Kent, took just 37 shots, making 21. They turned the ball over 17 times, but many of those came during a 9:02 span late in the second half.
During that stretch, the Cougars scored just nine points.
A win is a win, no matter how slow, ugly or sluggish it may have been.
“The reality of how we played tonight is how we should play every night,” Kent said. “Washington State’s style of play really allowed us to grow as a basketball team.”
If the Ducks grew any against the Cougars, it came in baby steps. Washington State head coach Dick Bennett faced off against the Ducks for the first time in his career, having come to Pullman, Wash., at the start of the season.
Oregon forward Luke Jackson said the Ducks knew what Bennett would have his team run, especially since it allowed Bennett to engineer winning teams at Wisconsin from 1992-2000.
“We knew that they were going to try to control the possessions,” Jackson said. “We tried to speed the game up. Instead of playing to their game, we executed ours really well.”
Oregon’s 60 point total was the lowest amount the team has posted in a game this season, but the 45 it allowed was its best game — score-wise — this season. The total was also the least the Ducks have allowed since keeping Southern California to 40 on Jan. 7, 1988, in a 12-point victory.
“I was quite impressed with Oregon, particularly offensively,” Bennett said. “They get the ball to the right people in a timely fashion. We just struggled to put anything in the basket.”
The right people for Oregon included Jackson, who posted a game-high 19 points, and Andre Joseph, who pitched in with 14 on the strength of 5 of 7 shooting. James Davis kept his hot hand going, moving into fourth place on the Ducks’ all-time three-point shooting list after making two.
He’s now got 195 for his career, passing Jamal Lawrence.
“They made us play better,” Joseph said of Washington State. “They made us accountable for every offensive possession.”
A low spot for the Ducks did come during the 9:02 span that held them at 58 points until Mitch Platt scored on a layup with 58 seconds left in the game.
During the span, the Ducks took five shots. For much of that time, the Ducks were without most of their starting five. Still, Oregon was in control at that point and Washington State never challenged for the lead.
“The rhythm of the game just got a little out of sync,” Kent said. “We were just turning the ball over too much with the group we had out there.”
Shami Gill led the Cougars with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Washington State lost for its fifth time in seven games. The 45 points tied for the third-lowest amount the team has scored in a game this season.
The Cougars did control the offensive boards, grabbing 18 to Oregon’s six. At halftime, the Ducks were comfortably controlling the glass, limiting Washington State to 12, including six offensively.
“The bottom line is, we need to block out better,” Jackson said.
Not to be overlooked, it was Oregon’s fifth straight victory over Washington State and its 13th win in its last 14 games against the Cougars.
Not bad.
That’s a win, no matter how you slice it.