The No. 4 seeded Colorado Buffaloes (21-10, 12-8 Pac-12) and the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (19-14, 11-9 Pac-12) squared off in the quarterfinals with both teams desperately needing a win to keep NCAA tournament, and Pac-12 championship, hopes alive. It ended with the Buffaloes conquering the Ducks 80-69, ending Oregon’s short-lived Pac-12 Tournament run on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas.
After a back and forth start, Oregon hit a funk late in the first half. A six minute period that left Oregon without a field goal saw Colorado take advantage with a 12-0 run. The Buffs’ took a 3-25 lead.
“We had some focus mistakes,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “You have to give yourself a chance to be successful and we made too many mistakes.”
The main reason the Ducks were able to remain within 6 at the half was the hot-handed shooting of forward Quincy Guerrier. He led both teams with an impressive 14 first-half points en route to his double-double. He finished with a season high 25 points to lead the Ducks.
Outside of Guerrier, Oregon’s offense was sluggish and disconnected. De’Vion Harmon was held scoreless through the 17 minutes he played in the first frame, and the low post combination of N’Faly Dante and Franck Kepnang were limited to a combined 4 points through the first half.
For a team that has put so much emphasis on the deep ball this season, the 8% three-point percentage mark that the Ducks posted in the first half left Altman and the Oregon offense in need of a different strategy and a second half comeback.
It was the first time in three meetings this season that the Ducks trailed Colorado at the half.
They never regained the lead.
Second half foul trouble quickly became one of Oregon’s biggest issues. With Dante, Jacob Young, and Eric Williams Jr. all one foul from disqualification, the Ducks had to turn to bench players and passive defensive strategies. This is where missing Will Richardson hurt the most. This passive defense was dominated in the paint during the second frame with the Buffs’ out rebounding Oregon 26-15.
“We got beat on the boards badly,” Altman said, “We were slow to loose balls and they beat us in the categories that are really important.”
When Colorado extended its lead to ten with 2:39 remaining it became clear; the clock was running down on Oregon’s season.
An emotional Oregon squad left the court in Vegas after its second round exit. Both the Ducks men’s and women’s teams were one-and-done in the Pac-12 tournament in 2022.
“The guys are disappointed,” Altman said. “We just seemed to be a step slow all day. We just didn’t get it done.”
The loss for Oregon squashes the Ducks’ quest for madness. They’re a long (long) shot for an at-large NCAA tournament bid and will likely end up in the NIT tournament in a couple weeks.
Colorado will advance to the semi-finals tomorrow against No. 1 seeded Arizona (29-3, 18-2 Pac-12) who narrowly escaped a close game with No. 9 Stanford earlier today. Tip-off is slated for tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT.
