It was a little closer than Dana Altman may have preferred, but the Oregon men’s basketball managed to creep past Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday 79-68.
The Ducks (16-6, 7-3 Pac-12) fell behind 18-14 early after Utah (5-17, 2-8 Pac-12) went on a torrid 10-0 run. An official TV timeout gave Oregon a chance to regroup, and both junior forward E.J. Singler and senior guard Devoe Joseph responded with an 8-0 run of their own to put the Ducks back ahead 22-18. It was a back and forth affair from there, with Oregon falling behind by as many as six points before storming back to tie it at 36 going into halftime. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
Both Joseph and Utah’s Chris Hines entered the intermission with 12 points, and a quick look at the stat sheet showed that Utah was hanging on mostly by the strength of its three-point shooting. The Utes made five of their nine shots from beyond the arc in the first half, while Oregon came in at just three of eight. Otherwise, the Ducks outplayed the home team with advantages in turnovers (four to Utah’s eight), points in the paint (14 to Utah’s ten) and converted field goals (14 to Utah’s 12).  @@http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/utah-m-baskbl-mtt.html@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
And yet, Utah continued to hang on to its upset hopes as the second half began. Consecutive three-pointers from Hines and junior forward Dijon Farr gave the Utes a 49-41 advantage at the 14:36 mark and Oregon was held to just five points through the half’s first seven minutes. A Carlos Emory three-pointer finally got things going at the 12-minute mark, and Singler followed with a three of his own to cut the score to 52-49. Emory struck again with a breakaway dunk off a turnover, and a layup from Singler allowed Oregon to regain the lead, 53-52.
It would be a dogfight over the game’s final eight minutes, but the Ducks sealed the deal with a 7-0 run keyed by Joseph, Emory and senior guard Garrett Sim. Utah would not come closer than eight over the last three minutes of the game, and Oregon would eventually walk away with a hard-fought 79-68 victory.
Joseph led the way with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and two steals. Emory followed with 14 points and five rebounds, while Singler came in with 12 points. As a team, Oregon shot a respectable 49.1 percent from the field, including eight of 16 from three point land. The Ducks missed just two of their 17 free throws and managed to keep turnovers in check with just seven.
Utah, meanwhile, was led by Hines — who also finished with 20 points. Guard Cedric Martin chipped in with 15 points, while Kareem Storey had a double-double (10 points, 11 assists). After outscoring the Ducks 10-5 from the bench in the first half, the Utes were ultimately done in by Oregon’s 20 second half bench points (Utah had just three).
Oregon returns to the floor on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Colorado (14-7, 6-3 Pac-12). @@http://www.pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballM.aspx@@