There are two ways to examine a loss such as Oregon’s 95-88 overtime loss to No. 11 Washington on Thursday night.
One way is obvious. Criticize them for not hitting free throws or making clutch baskets at crucial moments in the game.
But for once, I’ll take the other road with this loss.
At the risk of sounding like a homer and every coach in America, this loss could be beneficial to the heartbroken Ducks.
These guys didn’t only play with, but were in control of the 11th-ranked team in the country — the same Huskies team that blasted Oregon 77-56 in Seattle earlier this season.
And while Oregon’s Jordan Kent had his head lowered as he walked to the bench with his fifth foul during overtime, still visibly upset at a couple of free throws he missed near the end of regulation, he has nothing to be ashamed of.
Pulling down 16 boards and scoring 19 points is nothing to shake your head at. At 6-foot-5, grabbing that many boards is a pretty remarkable feat. He was the energy guy for this team Thursday night and has entrenched himself as a big-time player on this Oregon squad.
Another positive for the Ducks was the play of Maarty Leunen. The freshman looked as though he may have broken through the “freshman wall” that everyone talks about. He scored 12 points and had eight rebounds while playing an important role in the Ducks’ first-half lead.
Fellow freshman Chamberlain Oguchi also shined in a mere 14 minutes of play. He scored 13 points and threw down two crowd-pumping dunks and two key three-pointers to keep the game close.
Even Bryce Taylor showed signs of getting back into the swing of things with 10 points in a foul-plagued effort.
To make things even tougher, the Ducks lost a teammate this week. Though Ian Crosswhite hasn’t been as productive as he has in the past, a team can’t help but feel the loss of one of its most experienced players.
But it didn’t show Thursday night.
While I’ve been the first to blast this team for its losses, I’ll also be the first to say that was a great effort against Washington.
But on Saturday against Washington State, we will see which way this Oregon team takes the loss. If it can take the good things out of this defeat, maybe the Ducks will break their current six-game losing streak.
If not, it might be loss No. 7 for the young Ducks, and any chances of making the Pacific-10 tournament might be far, far away.

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