The Oregon men’s basketball team got two outstanding performances from junior college transfers Jeremy Jacob and Malcolm Armstead, as the Ducks (12-9, 4-5 Pacific-10 Conference) surged past the Trojans of USC (12-9, 4-5 Pac-10) on Saturday afternoon at McArthur Court.
Jacob and Armstead accounted for a combined 37 points as Oregon came away with the 67-57 victory — its second win in a row after losing five straight conference games.
“This team has really grown over time,” head coach Ernie Kent said. “The adversity is really toughening them up, and I’m just talking about the adversity of life that they’re going through with some life lessons and some of the noise that they hear.
“They’ve done a very, very good job of letting us coach them.”
Oregon used an 8-2 run to open the game, which included back-to-back three pointers from Armstead and senior guard Tajuan Porter. But the Trojans responded with a 15-7 run of their own over the next 8:25 to take the lead. The first half closed with Oregon up 31-28.
USC’s redshirt senior guard Mike Gerrity scored all eight of his first half points in the final 5:49, while Jacob scored the Ducks’ final nine points of the half. Jacob said his confidence came from playing with center Michael Dunigan.
“I’m more comfortable when I play with Mike (Dunigan),” Jacob said, “knowing I don’t have to take the strongest or the biggest guy on the floor, so it’s a little easier for me.”
Jacob has played a key role for the Ducks over the past four games and has shown that he and Dunigan can coexist on the court, something that was somewhat in question prior to the season. The difference has been Kent’s decision to go back to the zone defense, leading to the much-needed offensive turnaround Oregon was so desperately lacking.
Dunigan and Jacob were able to keep the USC big men, Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson, in check throughout most of the night. After both being held scoreless in the first half, Vucevic came back to score 10 second-half points to go along with his game-high 14 rebounds. Stephenson, on the other hand, grabbed four rebounds and had three blocks, though he did not score a point.
“I wouldn’t say we’re all the way (back),” Armstead said. “I would say we’ve got a little more
confidence and we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Armstead has also appeared to find his stride again, finishing the night with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in his team-high 37 minutes of action.
After the Ducks broke the 47-47 tie with just under six minutes remaining in the second half, it appeared that a member of the Trojan training staff said something inappropriate to one of the officials and a technical foul was promptly assessed to the USC bench.
The play seemed small at the time, but Porter sank both free throws to set in motion a 20-10 run to close out the game for Oregon. Porter hit all four of his free-throw attempts down the stretch, while Armstead chipped in two makes and Jacob converted on 5-of-6 from the line during that time.
The Ducks finished the night 15-of-19 from the charity stripe, with Jacob going 9-of-11 by himself. Jacob finished the game with a career-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds and one steal.
“Hopefully, they’re showing you why we went out and got them and why we brought them in,” Kent said of Jacob and Armstead. “Because we needed help in our program.”
Sophomore guard Matthew Humphrey continued his hot shooting from downtown, hitting another pair of back-to-back three pointers during a critical stretch in the first half. He finished the game with six points, two rebounds and one steal.
“He’s been a great spark for us,” Jacob said of Humphrey.
Senior guard Dwight Lewis led the way for the Trojans with 16 points and three rebounds, while Gerrity ended with 12 points and five assists.
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