So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Oregon (19-13, 12-9 Pac-12) took the first step in a longshot conference championship run on Wednesday, defeating in-state rival Oregon State (3-28, 1-20 Pac-12) in Las Vegas 86-72.
The win over the No. 12 seeded Oregon State pushes the No. 5 Ducks one game farther into the Pac-12 tournament and one game closer to a potential NCAA Tournament bid.
No Will Richardson? No problem. The 86 points Oregon tallied on Wednesday are the most scored against a conference opponent all season, surpassing its previous mark of 84.
“We [didn’t] have Will,” Eric Williams Jr. said. “So we [had] to go out and do our best. And I think the guys came together.”
Carrying both the bad mojo of a three game losing streak, two of which the Ducks were favored to win, along with the subtraction of Oregon’s leading scorer on the season, the team was in need of rejuvenation.
Cue Jacob Young.
Young led the charge for the Ducks, and picked up a couple along the way, scoring 23 and dishing out career-high 11 assists. He finished four rebounds shy of what would have been the second triple-double in Pac-12 tournament history.
“He was really impressive,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “He did a really good job with ball screens and making the right plays.”
Oregon jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never relented its hold on the score. Every time the Beavers came close, Quincy Guerrier and N’faly Dante took control. Guerrier’s 13 second half points, along with Dante’s five blocks dammed up every attempted Beaver comeback.
“Dante’s presence was really important to us,” Altman said. “His activity I thought was great.”
For a team that has primarily relied on 3-pointers, especially via Richardson, for the majority of the season, the different look for Oregon’s offense took control of the Beavers.
Oregon won by controlling the paint. Collecting two-thirds of the game’s offensive rebounds and scoring a resounding 52 points in the paint, the Ducks’ big men dominated Oregon State’s seemingly timid defenders.
“Points off turnovers,” Altman said. “We beat them in points, in paint, fast breaks. We needed to come together, and I thought the guys did a good job in that.”
The Ducks have had Oregon State’s number all season, sweeping the Beavers with three head-to-head wins in 2022.
Oregon State’s 20th conference loss of the season ends a rough season for the Beavers, coming off a run in 2021 that saw them win this same tournament just a year ago. This year they were ranked last, and they played like it today.
The Ducks defense forced 13 turnovers and picked up 19 fouls.
Oregon looks ahead to a rubber match with the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado (20-10, 12-8 Pac-12) took down the Ducks in Eugene, but Oregon bounced back with a resounding 15-point win in Boulder in February.
“We know we have our work cut out for us,” Altman said. “We expended a lot of energy. Oregon State gave us a great game, and we knew they would.”
The Ducks will be again without Richardson who continues to miss games due to a non-COVID-related illness and will have to face a well-rested Buffs’ team on just one short night’s sleep.
Game 2 tips Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT.
