After sweeping through the postseason with a 12-0 record, No. 20 Oregon met its first conference test Saturday at Oregon State (8-6, 0-1).
And the Ducks passed.
Oregon (13-0, 1-0) continued its hottest start since the 1937-38 season by overcoming an 11-point first-half deficit to defeat the Beavers 76-73 in front of 8,719 at Gill Coliseum.
Oregon guard Bryce Taylor carried the offensive load with 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and the Ducks helped themselves from the free-throw line by connecting on 17 of 21 attempts, including a key pair late in the game, and were able to overcome a blistering shooting performance by the Beavers to pick up their first win at Gill Coliseum since the 2002-03 season.
With the exception of seniors Adrian Stelly and Adam Zahn, who both redshirted and did not play during that season, it’s also the first victory in Corvallis for each player on the Oregon roster – a group that has struggled and failed to meet expectations the past two seasons.
“It’s definitely good to start league with a win but it’s definitely good to get a win against a rival team at their home,” senior point guard Aaron Brooks said. “It’s a different feeling getting out of here with a win.”
It certainly didn’t come easy for the Ducks who trailed by a season-high deficit at 30-19 early in the first half.
“We called a timeout and talked about what our game plan was and what has gotten us to 12-0,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “We challenged them to (play better defense), and I thought there was a stretch there that they were unbelievable defensively. We just took them out of everything they wanted to do. That’s where we took control of the game.”
Consecutive steals by Zahn started a 9-0 run and the Ducks continued that pressure to close out the half on a 22-4 run to take a 41-34 lead into the break. Oregon had nine first-half steals, 11 for the game and forced 16 total turnovers.
Forward Maarty Leunen had eight points during that critical stretch for the Ducks, including two three-pointers. He had 10 in the first half and 14 for the game.
Taylor scored 12 in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting to keep Oregon within striking distance to make the run.
In the second half, he and Leunen combined to score 11 of Oregon’s first 15 points as the Ducks built a 12-point lead at 66-54 with 8:03 left in the half.
But Oregon State, which shot a scorching 60.9 percent in the first half, had one more run before it was all over.
The Beavers went on a 16-7 run and narrowed the gap to three on a steal and dunk by forward Marcel Jones with 31 seconds left.
But Zahn, who entered the game as a 67 percent free throw shooter, was fouled at the other end on a lay-up attempt and calmly knocked down the clutch free throws to give Oregon a five-point cushion.
The Beavers failed to connect on a three-point attempt on the ensuing possession. Taylor hit one of two free throws and Jones buried a late, meaningless three-pointer as the Ducks celebrated a successful start to the Pac-10 schedule.
“They’re becoming a very good road team,” Kent said of his Ducks. “There was a lot to fight through in that game in the last five minutes … And they fought through all that stuff, knocked down their free throws, and continued to defend.”
Led by Taylor’s 22 and Leunen’s 14, two other Ducks also scored in double figures. Point guard Aaron Brooks added three steals and 13 points, including a key three-point play with Oregon clinging to a six-point lead with 5:10 remaining in the second half.
Chamberlain Oguchi, in just his second game back since a sprained ankle sidelined him for five games, added 12 points.
His return, along with the return of freshman guard Tajuan Porter from a sprained big toe, was key for the Ducks, Kent said. Though Porter scored just three points, he provided depth and a needed rest for Brooks at point guard.
“There’s no way we could have won over here if we didn’t have Tajuan Porter and Chamberlain,” Kent said. “Just because we needed the extra energy.”
All five Oregon State starters finished in double figures. Jones and forward Sasa Cuic led the Beavers with 16 points. Cuic was limited in the second half after picking up his fourth foul just 35 seconds into the second half.
Redshirt freshman guard Josh Tarver scored 15, guard Wesley Washington scored 11 and center Kyle Jeffers scored 10. The Beavers managed just five bench points but were the first team to shoot better than 50 percent against the Ducks by connecting on 51.7 percent of their shots and 45.7 percent in the second half.
Oregon’s next conference tests come at home next Thursday against USC and Saturday against top-ranked UCLA.