INDIANAPOLIS — ”They stole the Pac-12 championship from us,” Isaiah Mobley said of the Ducks after USC’s win in the round of 32. On Sunday night, Mobley and the Trojans made their case.
The Trojans played like a team with a chip on their shoulder, one with a sense of urgency. Their fans knew it too. “Let’s go champions,” chanted a section of USC fans as the final minutes ticked down.
USC blew out Oregon for the second time in as many meetings, winning 82-68 in Bankers Fieldhouse, putting an end to the Ducks’ tournament run. A combined 49 points from seniors Eugene Omoruyi (28) and Chris Duarte (21), the only double-digit scorers for Oregon, proved too little as the Trojans’ zone gave the Ducks fits.
“We didn’t get the balanced scoring that we had been having,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We didn’t play well. USC did. USC beat us. They’ve got a very talented team and that zone gave Kansas problems and it gave us fits.”
Unlike the Ducks’ last meeting with USC in Los Angeles in late January, a game in which Oregon at one point trailed 17-1, Oregon kept pace early.
The Ducks, again outmatched in the size department up front, battled on the boards and drove the ball into the teeth of the USC defense.
Oregons’ success was short-lived.
USC’s zone defense tilted the tide of the game as Oregon’s offense bogged down. The Ducks struggled to find open shots, acting indecisively on the wings while shying away from the Mobley brothers, Evan and Isaiah, who patrolled the paint. Oregon forced long out-of-rhythm threes and committed uncharastic turnovers.
“I let the guys down,” Altman said. “I didn’t have them ready for that zone, I thought we were. Their length and athleticism really bothered us.”
An Eric Williams Jr. putback gave the Ducks a 17-16 lead with nine minutes to go in the half, but just 18 seconds later, USC recaptured the lead and grabbed control of the game, never looking back. The Trojans finished the half hellaciously, outscoring the Ducks 25-9 as Oregon shot 3-of-17 over the stretch.
Despite a late adjustment to place Duarte in the heart of the USC zone, the Trojans’ swarming defense threw a wrench in the Ducks’ typically potent offense. The final nine minutes of the first half were a body blow to the Ducks, one from which they never recovered.
The Ducks kept the Mobleys largely in check, but in their efforts to slow the duo down, surrendered countless threes to guards Tahj Eaddy (20) and Isaiah White (22), who combined to hit 7-for-11 from deep. White hit a career-high four threes. USC hit 10 of its 17 threes, while the Ducks shot a measly 5-for-21.
“We didn’t anticipate White shooting it as well as he did,” Altman said. “They went 10-for-17 from three and that really changed our plan… that was the difference in the game.”
Sunday’s bout was eerily similar to the team’s previous matchup. Poor shooting and costly turnovers put the Ducks in what proved to be an insurmountable hole. A late 11-0 run, gave the Ducks hope before an Eaddy three-pointer with three minutes to go ripped it away again.
The Ducks were outclassed, but in the end, it was their own miscues that led them to a somber walk to the locker room. USC built a 20-point lead midway through the second half and led by double digits for all but 30 seconds of the second half.
Oregon’s supporting cast, which was instrumental in its blowout win over Iowa, fell short. Outside of Omoruyi and Duarte, the starters shot a combined 5-for-27, adding a mere 11 points.
Kepnang gave a grizzled Ducks team some much-needed size and energy, but couldn’t tilt the game in his sparse minutes.
“I didn’t play him well enough,” Altman said. “I didn’t give him a long-enough opportunity that first half. He got us a couple of rebounds, he kept the ball alive a couple times, he just was a presence in there,” Altman said. “His energy defensively gave us a big lift.”
LJ Figueroa (2-for-12), one of the stars in Oregon’s upset over Iowa, had a forgettable night. In the final minutes, the St. John’s transfer committed a travel in transition, stepped out of bounds in the corner on a three-point attempt and was hung on the rim on an alley-oop attempt. He turned the ball over on four occasions, a season-high.
After the Ducks brought the game within reach, 69-60, with 3:22 to go, a swift 5-0 run crushed Oregon’s comeback attempt as USC quickly rebuilt a 14-point lead.
A delayed start to the season, no non-conference schedule, no fans, two COVID-19 pauses within the program, and even so, a regular-season championship and second-round upset.
“I told them one game doesn’t define us,” Altman said. “We had a nice year, we did a lot of good things you know, and I love the guy’s perseverance.”
After winning 13 of their last 15 games, the Ducks finally slowed down and in their attempt to get back in gear, sputtered as their season slipped through their fingertips.
