The Oregon Ducks (18-9, 10-6 Pac-12) led the Cal Golden Bears (13-15, 9-8 Pac-12) 44-38 after a 3-pointer from Brennan Rigsby with just over 15 minutes left in the second half. After a strong first half, the Ducks looked to be taking control of the game and extending their lead with the basket. However, what followed was a nightmare offensive drought that saw Oregon not make a field goal for more than 10 minutes as the game slowly slipped out of reach.
The Ducks jumped out to an early lead after making their first three baskets, giving them a 6-0 lead just over a minute and a half into the game. Jermaine Cousinard became the fourth different Oregon player to score just over two minutes into the game, with that stretch being broken up by a single basket from the Golden Bears.
The Ducks were able to capitalize on a host of turnovers through the opening minutes of the game to maintain the lead, despite Cal making a pair of 3-pointers to begin an early comeback push. However, the offense ran cold for an almost five-minute stretch that saw no made field goals from Oregon. The game stayed firmly in the Ducks’ grasp through the drought due to stellar defense from Oregon throughout.
A 7-1 run from Cal tied the game at 25-25 with about five minutes left in the first half in the middle of another long stretch without a field goal for the Ducks. However, Oregon was able to find the bottom of the basket to stop the run and spark a 6-0 run of its own to get the lead back.
A 3-pointer from Jadrian Tracey with just under three minutes left in the game was the last basket scored by either team before the halftime break. The Ducks had a pair of turnovers in the final couple minutes, but Cal was unable to capitalize with baskets on the other end to send the game into halftime 34-30 in the favor of Oregon.
A 3-pointer from Cousinard, who led the Ducks with 19 total points, and a layup from N’Faly Dante, who was Oregon’s second leading scorer with 15, to start the second half gave the Ducks a punch early to help keep the Golden Bears at arm’s length. However, some sloppy offense led to some early turnovers from Oregon allowed Cal to bring the lead down to just one at 39-38.
Kwame Evans Jr. went down with an injury just over four minutes into the second half, forcing an already short Duck rotation to get that much shorter for the rest of the game. He finished the game with two points and three rebounds in his 18 minutes of play.
The two offenses faltered for a stretch that lasted over two minutes without either team scoring. A 3-pointer from Cal’s Jalen Cone broke that deadlock, and cut the Oregon lead to just one point with just over 12 minutes left in the second half. Shortly after, Cone hit another 3-pointer to give the Golden Bears their first lead of the game 46-44 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game.
Cal scored again to bring its run to 10-0 while the Ducks’ offense continued to flounder. Almost five straight minutes without scoring was finally broken by a pair of free throws from Kario Oquendo.
The Golden Bears’ offense continued to hum as they, now firmly sitting in the driver’s seat, were able to keep their lead at two-possessions consistently throughout the run. On the other end, Oregon’s offense had firmly moved from cold territory to frigid. The offense missed 12 straight field goal attempts, not making one since the Rigsby 3-pointer with more than 15 minutes left in the second half. On the other end, Cal’s Jaylon Tyson was red-hot. He scored 16 of his 27 points in the game during the second half.
Cousinard hit a pair of free throws, finally getting the Ducks back on the board with just over six minutes left in the game. Dante made a hook shot to finally break through the lid on the basket, making that the first Oregon field goal in over 10 minutes. Dante made another layup, giving the Ducks some life on the offensive end. Tracey made a 3-pointer shortly after to finally bring the game back to one-possession. Cal still led, but the 60-57 score with just over three minutes remaining was the closest the game had been in over six minutes.
Despite cutting the lead to one point in the final minutes, Oregon was unable to push past the Golden Bears late in the game. A pair of late free throws from Cal brought the lead back up to five points with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. The Ducks were unable to make the miracle comeback, making the final score 69-64.
Oregon will be back at Matthew Knight Arena to take on the Oregon State Beavers on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m.
