With 20 seconds left in a tied game against Pac-12-leading Washington, Oregon junior point guard Payton Pritchard had the ball in his hands with a chance to win it.
It was all pointing toward a memorable, possibly season-changing win for the Ducks. Trailing by as many as 12, Pritchard ignited a comeback, knocking down two 3-pointers and taking a charge during a 14-point swing.
The potential game-winning play for Pritchard, however, was never to be. Washington’s Jaylen Nowell stole the ball after Pritchards lost it. Pritchard fouled him while attempting a desperation half court shot. Nowell went on to knock down all three free throws, and just like that, Oregon’s comeback was a heartbreaking loss.
Despite having a chance to win it with under 10 seconds left, and overcoming a 12 point deficit, the Oregon men’s basketball team (11-8, 2-4) fell to the Washington Huskies (15-4, 6-0) 61-56 Thursday night, marking Washington’s first win in Eugene since 2010.
“Obviously, with that last timeout, I wanted the last shot,” head coach Dana Altman said. “I told them, ‘Fellas, we’ve got another timeout if you need it. You just can’t turn it over. If we go to overtime, we go to overtime, but we’re gonna take the last shot.’ And we turned it over. Tough play for Payton.”
In just six Pac-12 games thus far, Oregon has been dealt two major blows. On Jan. 10, Oregon blew a nine point lead with under a minute to play against UCLA. Even though the result was the same, this game was different. Rather than blowing a big lead, Oregon fought back from double-digits to take the lead.
“That’s why I tell them we’ve got to keep our heads up because we’ve got to try and learn from it, try to learn how to close out these games so when we do climb back on top, we can stay on top,” senior forward Paul White said.
White added: “That UCLA one, that was tough too,” White said. “I think with this one, I feel like we are more in a better headspace. During that time, when that UCLA thing came, it just kind of shocked us.”
The 52-51 lead that Pritchard gave Oregon with four minutes and 11 seconds left was the team’s first lead since the first possession of the game. After freshman forward Francis Okoro scored the game’s first points 15 seconds in, Oregon was held scoreless over the next eight minutes and 26 seconds before Louis King ended the drought with a three.
Although freshmen Miles Norris, who had a career-high 10 points, Francis Okoro, eight points, and Louis King, 19 points, all had solid games offensively, Oregon will once again be in a situation where the best-case scenario is a split weekend, hosting 11th place Washington State on Sunday at 5 p.m.
“Our execution by everybody has got to get better,” Altman said. “We’re gonna have to put this one behind us again and get back tomorrow and get back to work.”
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack
