SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Oregon men’s basketball team entered Saturday, March 16, with one goal in mind: beat Washington to win the Pac-12 Championship and make the NCAA Tournament. The second half was all Oregon, holding a 64-45 lead with two minutes left.
Although the game was still going, the result was in place. Oregon made a statement with the eventual win. The only thing missing was an exclamation point. Oregon guard Payton Pritchard did that with one minute, 55 seconds left in the game.
Washington guard Elijah Hardy tried to pass to Jamal Bey, but Pritchard read the movement and stole the pass. The race for the hoop between Hardy and Pritchard commenced with the entire crowd expecting a coast-to-coast layup by Pritchard.
“I thought he was gonna lay it up or finger roll it or whatever, but when he [dunked it], we all kind of lost it,” guard Victor Bailey Jr. said.
Pritchard passed up the easy layin and chose to do something the public has yet to see: Pritchard slammed the ball in left handed over Hardy, which created chaos on the court, the Oregon bench and on Twitter.
“I didn’t think he was gonna dunk,” guard Will Johnson said. “I don’t think anybody did really, but he did it so he shocked the world. Shocked everybody on the bench for sure.”
It also wasn’t a glorified layup. It was a DUNK. The 6-foot-2 point guard left no doubt in his teammates minds that he can hammer one down.
“Oh man, I was running around,” forward and longtime slam-dunker Kenny Wooten said. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. … I was excited, super excited for my guy.”
One player who thought the dunk was a small possibility was guard Will Richardson, who was trailing Pritchard as he made his move for the hoop.
“I was surprised, but lately I feel like he’s been dunking a lot more in warmups and stuff,” Richardson said. “So I kind of figured if he got a fastbreak he was going to try it. I could tell by the way he started, the way he was gonna jump, that he was gonna dunk it.
A frenzy of emotion created what Bailey Jr. deemed “the most hyped moment” from the entire Pac-12 Tournament. Five days later, and the excitement that play brought still shows on everyone’s face.
“I lost my mind when he did it,” senior forward Paul White said while laughing. “I was happy for him because I see all the hard work he really put in behind the scenes, trying to make up for the lack of bounce he does have. That’s my son, so I was a proud father at that moment.”
Head coach Dana Altman tried to hold back Louis King as he flew off the bench in celebration. Francis Okoro was left with his hand over his mouth. Former Oregon teammate Dillon Brooks was shown on the sideline yelling and flexing.
“I was surprised, he never dunks,” Okoro said. “I have never seen him dunk in a game. … He’s the last person I’m gonna think about dunking. But there you go, Payton dunking.”
Fortunately for the Ducks and their fans, a timeout was called, which allowed the whole team to celebrate on the court.
“It feels great for all them being excited,” Pritchard said. “Obviously I was excited, but just to see the reactions of your teammates like that, it’s a great feeling. Just happy I could finish it like that.”
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack