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.
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 as to 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 at the start of the season.
Oregon forward Luke Jackson said the Ducks knew of what Bennett
would have his team run, especially since it allowed him to
engineer winning teams at Wisconsin from 1992-2000.

“We need 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 points was the lowest amount it has posted in a game
this season, but the 45 it allowed was its best game —
score-wise — this season. The 45 points 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. Andre Joseph 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 to 58 points until Mitch Platt scored on a layup with 58
seconds left in the game. Even if Oregon had begun to slack a
bit, it could be a definite concern.
During the span, the Ducks took five shots. For most of that
time, the Ducks were without most of their starting five.

“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.