Trying to end a two-game losing streak, the Oregon Ducks (4-3) ran into the wrong team at the eighth annual Pape Jam in Portland on Saturday.
No. 11 Illinois (10-0), last year’s NCAA national runner-up, handed the Ducks its worst loss of the season, 89-59, in front of 15,109 at the Rose Garden.
Illinois guard and All-American Dee Brown finished with a game-high 26 points.
“That was just a poor effort all around,” guard Malik Hairston said. “They jumped on us fast and we let Dee get loose. We didn’t ever retaliate.”
Brown helped Illinois jump out to a 40-22 lead at halftime by hitting four of seven three pointers and five of 10 from the field. He had 15 points in the first half. Entering Saturday’s contest, Brown averaged 14.1 points per game and shot 28 percent from three-point range.
“The ball was going in for me today,” said Brown, who connected for five three pointers in the game. “My teammates and my coaches give me a lot of confidence.”
Brown, a likely future NBA draft pick, also finished with a team-high seven assists.
“Dee played at a high level tonight,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “He just got in one of those zones.”
Three of Brown’s teammates also finished in double digits. Rich McBride had 12 points, Marcus Arnold scored 11 points, Jamar Smith had 10 points and James Augustine finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds. Their combined effort helped Illinois build a lead that ballooned to 31 in the second half before the final margin of 30.
The Ducks’ narrowest deficit was 12 with more than 16 minutes to play in the second half after a three-point play by Aaron Brooks. But a 9-2 Illinois run buried the Ducks momentum.
Illinois shot more than 50 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent (10 of 23) from three-point range against the Ducks perimeter defense. The thrashing was reminiscent of last week’s 71-57 loss to Georgetown, when the Hoyas’ Ashanti Cook shredded the Ducks by hitting four of five three pointers.
Oregon’s shooting woes and offensive struggles continued against Illinois as well. The Ducks shot 35 percent from the field and 17.6 percent from beyond the arc. Three of Oregon’s starters â?” Maarty Leunen, Ray Schafer and Brooks â?” were a combined three of 11 shooting.
The majority of Oregon’s firepower came from Ivan Johnson, who turned in his most complete game of the season Saturday with 16 points on seven of 10 shooting. He and Malik Hairston (12) were the only Ducks in double digits.
“Unfortunately, they did everything right in the game and we didn’t do a lot of things right, with the exception of Ivan Johnson. I thought he did a nice job,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.
The loss is Oregon’s first in the eight-year existence of the Pape Jam and second straight to Illinois. Last season the Ducks fell 83-66 in Chicago. Illinois owns the all-time series against the Ducks, 4-0.
“I thought they played extremely well tonight,” Kent said of Illinois. “That’s the best we’ve seen them on tape. They played tough. They played physical. They played better than last year, just in terms of organization. They just took us apart.”
Oregon, which has lost three straight games, returns to Mac Court on Tuesday to face Santa Clara.
“We need to regroup,” Kent said. “We just need to put this stretch behind us and get out there and find our game again and g
et our confidence back with a win.”
