Ducks Fall at the Buzzer to Wazzu

Thursday, March 1

Pullman, WA

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

19-11, 9-8

Washington State

12-17, 4-13

Oregon

Washington State

Photo by: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

03/01/18 | Men's Basketball

Box Score UO-WSU BoxScore 2017-18 MBB Season Stats

By: Nathan Bryant

Pullman, Wash. – It was a bad case of déjà vu for the Oregon men's basketball team Thursday night as the game came down to the Ducks' last second shot for the third time this season. And for the third time, the Ducks fell short as Washington State slipped by Oregon 78-76 at Beasley Coliseum.

How it Happened: The Ducks (19-11, 9-8) and Washington State traded runs throughout the second half until they found themselves tied 70-70 with a minute and a half left.

WSU then recorded back-to-back layups to take a four-point lead. Those two quick layups would prove to be the deciding buckets as the Ducks proceeded to answer each WSU bucket, but could not get a stop on the defensive end.

"Points off turnovers, second-chance points - they beat us in all those areas," said head coach Dana Altman.

After a big three-pointer from Elijah Brown brought the Ducks within two, 77-75, Payton Pritchard had an opportunity to tie the game at the free throw line with less than 10 seconds left.

Pritchard sank the first of a one-and-one attempt, but could not get the second to fall. With WSU once again leading by two, thanks to a made free throw on the other end, Oregon had one last attempt to win the game with four seconds remaining. UO managed to find Pritchard with just enough time to put up a prayer as the clock expired, but it was not answered.

It was a similar battle in the first half of Thursday's game as the Cougars opened on a 10-2 run, eventually snapped by a jumper from Troy Brown Jr.

Brown's jumper sparked a 15-0 run for the Ducks to put UO in front 19-10 with 11:13 left in the first half. The Las Vegas, Nev., native, recorded eight points during Oregon's three-minute run.

As the first half began to wind down, Washington State took advantage of the charity stripe to tie the game up, 32-32, with less than two minutes left. A three-pointer from WSU's Robert Franks with 11 seconds left put the Cougars in front 37-35 at the half.

Both squads traded buckets throughout the early portion of the second half, with Washington State holding on to a slim lead over UO.

The Cougars pushed their lead to as high as 64-54, their largest of the game, with 8:11 left to go, but UO ripped off a 9-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer from MiKyle McIntosh, to get right back in it, 66-63.

Keith Smith put the Ducks back in front, stealing an inbounds pass and taking it coast-to-coast for the dunk to make it 67-66 at the 3:50 mark, setting up a tense finish.

Who Stood Out: Elijah Brown led the team with 18 points, adding three rebounds and three assists … Troy Brown Jr. finished with 17 points and six rebounds while Pritchard was the third Duck in double-figures with 16 points.

Box Score: The Ducks outrebounded WSU 34-30, but the Cougars recorded 14 second chance points compared to nine for UO … Both teams shot over 50 percent in the second half, with WSU shooting 62 percent.

Up Next: The Ducks now head to Seattle to take on Washington in their final game of the regular season. Oregon will play the Huskies for the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.