When Oregon’s shots wouldn’t fall, its record for worst start to a Pac-10 season did, and quite easily.
Oregon, after scoring with 18:44 left in the first half, wouldn’t score again until 9:18 left in the half, allowing the Cougars to run up a 19-5 score. The trouble was, the Ducks never played much better than that the rest of the game.
The Ducks (6-18, 0-12 Pac-10) eventually fell 67-38 to the Cougars (13-11, 5-7), finally wrestling the UO school record for worst start to a Pac-10 season free from the previous holders in 1992-93, and losing by the biggest margin in Pac-10 play this year.
“It’s one of the games you won’t let them watch DVDs, you just throw it out the window,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “It’s just a stinker all the way around.”
Oregon made just 10 field goals the entire night, shooting 21 percent from the field, 22 percent from three-point territory and 63 percent from the free throw line. Freshman forward Drew Wiley led Oregon with 10 points, while junior guard Tajuan Porter, who had scored 22, 18 and 21 points in his last three games, had seven, which was still the second-best for the team.
Ernie Kent said his team didn’t have the energy, physically, that could have let them keep up with the Cougars, saying they were tired in a radio interview after the game.
“Their bodies wouldn’t let them play hard,” Kent said. “They’re beat up a little bit physically obviously with everything they’ve been through.”
Junior forward Joevan Catron scored zero points, while freshman center Michael Dunigan scored 2.
Washington State, meanwhile, shot 11 fewer shots than Oregon yet made 21 attempts. The Cougars got 25 points from freshman guard Klay Thompson, who had been averaging 12.5 points per game this season. Senior guard Taylor Rochestie, who scored a career-high 30 points against Oregon the last time the two teams met in Eugene, added 16 points, and center Aron Baynes had 11.
Thompson and Rochestie combined for the Cougars’ nine three-pointers, missing only two shots between them from behind the three-point line.
“I felt in the first half we were playing really good defense but in the first half Thompson and Rochestie hit some tough, tough shots,” Kent said.
Oregon got back to 25-13 with more than four minutes left in the first half, but then allowed the Cougars to roll off 11 of the next 13 points for a 36-15 lead.
The Ducks continued their lackadaisical start to the second half by not scoring for the first 4:17, falling behind by 21.
Oregon plays Saturday against Washington in Seattle at noon.
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