Only twice in 35 previous tries had Oregon defeated both Arizona and Arizona State in the same road trip. After snapping Arizona’s 49-game home win streak on Thursday, the Ducks avoided a letdown. Their 91-74 win over Arizona State clinched Oregon’s third sweep of the Arizona schools in the team’s history, and the first since the 2011-12 season.
The Ducks (18-4, 7-2 Pac-12) came out hot early, leading by as many as 13 points in the first five minutes of the game. Arizona State (12-10, 2-7) didn’t go quietly, however, and trailed by just one point, 37-36 at halftime.
The teams traded blows into the second half, until Chris Boucher’s back-to-back threes gave the Ducks a 61-50 lead with 12:22 left. Arizona State didn’t get any closer than seven points for the remainder of the game.
Boucher played his best game at Oregon to date, scoring a career-high 26 points, including 4-of-8 from deep to go along with 10 rebounds and seven blocks.
“He had another great game and really got some separation for us hitting a couple threes in the second half,” head coach Dana Altman said in an interview with Oregon IMG Sports Network after the game. “Other than the turnovers and a few bad possessions offensively, we did some good things.”
Three other Ducks scored in double figures: Dillon Brooks (18), Tyler Dorsey (16) and Elgin Cook (14).
The win kept Oregon in sole possession of first place, while Colorado, USC, Utah and Washington are all tied for second with 6-3 conference records.
“This is a good road trip for us, we needed a couple wins,” Altman said. “A long way to go, we’ve got a tough week ahead of us.”
The Ducks return home to face Colorado and Utah next week, beginning with Colorado on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner