The Arizona State Sun Devils (11-8, 5-3 Pac-12) began their two-game Oregon road trip on Thursday evening in Eugene, taking on the Ducks (14-5, 6-2 Pac-12).
Both squads entered the night tied for first in the Pac-12, but the Ducks were the ones to prove they deserve it.
Oregon secured a commanding 80-61 win in a game where Arizona State controlled the tempo and momentum of the first half.
After a lackluster opening period, the Ducks shot the lights out in the second. The win saw 16 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals from N’faly Dante and 19 points from Jermaine Couisnard, which propelled the Ducks to a statement win.
Nate Bittle began his highly-anticipated return to the court in emphatic fashion with a 3-pointer that got the Matthew Knight Arena crowd loud and active early. However, his heroic stint would only last around a minute before being replaced by freshman Kwame Evans Jr.
The first half started back-and-forth, but it was clear that the Sun Devils were focused on being aggressive and taking the game to the Ducks.
“We took some questionable shots there, and that’s being nice,”Oregon head coach Dana Altman said about his team’s early struggles.
ASU was able to hold Oregon from scoring for over seven minutes while riding an 11-0 run of its own . The Ducks were unable to find gaps in the aggressive Sun Devil defense, and weren’t able to build any momentum early in the first half.
Only three Ducks scored through the first 10 minutes of play, while the team made just three shots from the field in that same stretch. In the first frame, the Ducks came off worse, shooting just 34.5% compared to the Devils 45.2%, but their strong defense behind their deep rotation allowed Oregon to keep it close. Towards the end of the half, Oregon went on an 8-0 run while ASU failed to score for over 2 minutes.
Both teams had small runs, but neither was able to transform them into dominating leads capable of putting the game out of reach. In the closing minutes, Oregon finally started shooting well and the crowd started getting much more involved.
The end of the first played out like the start, back-and-forth with neither team able to get a real edge on the other. The Sun Devils led 33-28 after the first, but it seemed like the Ducks were on the precipice of a run and comeback.
Oregon started the second half by getting to the bucket and being much more aggressive on the perimeter. The Ducks also chased ASU’s shooters off the 3-point line a lot more than they did in the first.
They started running a full court press that caught the Sun Devils off guard and created two turnovers for easy buckets.
Dante dominated in the paint, which opened up opportunities for Oregon’s shooters to get open and find their spots. Oregon took a commanding seven-point lead just before the halfway mark of the half after a 7-0 run.
Veteran guard Keeshawn Barthelemy and Kwame Evans Jr. came to life in the second, providing the support that the Ducks desperately needed to propel them forward on Thursday. Barthelemy added a huge boost to the Ducks’ offense, scoring seven of his 12 points in the second.
“We got some stops, and the basket got wider because we got some stops,” Barthelemy said, “We did a good job sharing the ball and making plays for each other.”
Oregon took the momentum around halfway through the second half with great defense and incredibly hot shooting. The Ducks were also able to continue their run for almost six minutes, while the lead ballooned to 15 points.
“We have to get more cohesive defensive effort, we need to communicate a lot better, and our defense can continue to get better,” Altman said.
The Ducks shot significantly better than they did in the first at 69.2% for the second, which emphasized their advantage over the Sun Devils. The game was only close when Oregon wasn’t shooting well.
While Oregon had one of its best shooting halves of the season, it still had a lot to offer defensively. Altman and the Ducks look to shore that up before Saturday’s blockbuster matchup against Pac-12 powerhouse No. 9 Arizona.
