Thursday, February 16
Eugene, Ore.
6:00 PM
University of Oregon
23-4, 12-2
79
vs
61
Utah
17-9, 8-6
1
2
F
Utah
25
36
61
Oregon
41
38
79
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Electric Performance Gives Ducks 41st Straight Win At MKA
02/16/17 | Men's Basketball
The Oregon men beat Utah on Thursday, 79-61, to continue an impressive run of success on their homecourt.
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon continues to hold serve at home in impressive fashion, as the Ducks beat Utah 79-61 for their NCAA-best 41st straight victory at Matthew Knight Arena, which hosted a sellout crowd of 12,364 on Thursday. The UO men will host Colorado for Senior Day on Saturday (noon, FOX), when Chris Boucher and Dylan Ennis will look to finish their careers unbeaten in 35 home games over two seasons.
How It Happened: The No. 7 Ducks (23-4, 12-2 Pac-12) opened up a 16-point halftime lead and then padded the highlight reel in the second. Early in the second half, Payton Pritchard and Jordan Bell had transition buckets on back-to-back possessions, giving Oregon its first 20-point lead at 52-32.
Dillon Brooks had a three and then bulled his way to the basket for two on consecutive trips for a 59-39 lead. He reversed order later in the half, with a thundering dunk over Utah big man David Collette and then a three from the top of the key on back-to-back possessions for a 74-49 lead. In between scoring outbursts by Brooks, Bell chased down JoJo Zamora from behind to block a layup attempt, reminiscent of a block by LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Tyler Dorsey scored 10 of Oregon's first 18 points, staking the Ducks to an early double-digit lead, 18-8. Utah was within 21-12 when the Ducks ripped off nine in a row, including a backdoor dunk and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions by Boucher. After the Utes finally scored again, Oregon tallied another seven straight, the last a nice finish in the lane by Kavell Bigby-Williams to make it 37-16.
Utah did muster its best run of the half just before the break, a 7-2 spurt to get within 41-25 at the break. But overall the Utes were held to .375 shooting (12-of-32), including 0-of-8 from three-point range, while Oregon shot .581 (18-of-31). The Utes did hurt the Ducks on the offensive glass, grabbing seven boards on their own end to score 10 second-chance points.
Who Stood Out: Brooks finished with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, Bell had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots, and Dorsey finished with 16 points. Pritchard filled it up with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.
What It Means: Given Arizona's win at Washington State, the Ducks stayed within a game of the first-place Wildcats in the conference standings. The Ducks moved a game-and-a-half ahead of idle UCLA, which plays USC on Saturday night.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, head coach
On what he liked from the win
"I thought defensively our activity was pretty good for the most part. We did hold them to 38 percent, and if you take nine putbacks off that, we really did play well defensively. But that 18 second-chance points kind of takes all your effort defensively of the board and makes it tough."
Payton Pritchard, freshman guard
On how the Ducks set the tone
"It started with defense again, which set us up in transition. We got a lot of deflections tonight and it just led to easy layups."
Jordan Bell, junior post
On Oregon's current level of play
"I think every month we've gotten better and better. We're a totally different team than when we played in Maui, and at Baylor. If we played those teams again, I think we'd win. I think we're making steps consistently."
Notable: Utah's leading scorer, junior forward Kyle Kuzma, did not suit up due to an ankle injury. Kuzma is averaging 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. … Brooks finished the game with 1,395 career points to pass former teammate Joe Young (1,388/2013-15) for 16th in UO scoring. ... The Ducks wore new "electric green" uniforms. … UO freshman Keith Smith suited up but did not play, missing his fifth straight game. … Former UO running back De'Anthony Thomas sat courtside with new head football coach Willie Taggart. … Olympic gold medalist and former seven-time UO all-American Matthew Centrowitz was honored at center court during a first-half timeout.
Up Next: The Ducks play their 2016-17 home finale against Colorado on Saturday (noon, FOX).
How It Happened: The No. 7 Ducks (23-4, 12-2 Pac-12) opened up a 16-point halftime lead and then padded the highlight reel in the second. Early in the second half, Payton Pritchard and Jordan Bell had transition buckets on back-to-back possessions, giving Oregon its first 20-point lead at 52-32.
Dillon Brooks had a three and then bulled his way to the basket for two on consecutive trips for a 59-39 lead. He reversed order later in the half, with a thundering dunk over Utah big man David Collette and then a three from the top of the key on back-to-back possessions for a 74-49 lead. In between scoring outbursts by Brooks, Bell chased down JoJo Zamora from behind to block a layup attempt, reminiscent of a block by LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Tyler Dorsey scored 10 of Oregon's first 18 points, staking the Ducks to an early double-digit lead, 18-8. Utah was within 21-12 when the Ducks ripped off nine in a row, including a backdoor dunk and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions by Boucher. After the Utes finally scored again, Oregon tallied another seven straight, the last a nice finish in the lane by Kavell Bigby-Williams to make it 37-16.
Utah did muster its best run of the half just before the break, a 7-2 spurt to get within 41-25 at the break. But overall the Utes were held to .375 shooting (12-of-32), including 0-of-8 from three-point range, while Oregon shot .581 (18-of-31). The Utes did hurt the Ducks on the offensive glass, grabbing seven boards on their own end to score 10 second-chance points.
Who Stood Out: Brooks finished with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, Bell had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots, and Dorsey finished with 16 points. Pritchard filled it up with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.
What It Means: Given Arizona's win at Washington State, the Ducks stayed within a game of the first-place Wildcats in the conference standings. The Ducks moved a game-and-a-half ahead of idle UCLA, which plays USC on Saturday night.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, head coach
On what he liked from the win
"I thought defensively our activity was pretty good for the most part. We did hold them to 38 percent, and if you take nine putbacks off that, we really did play well defensively. But that 18 second-chance points kind of takes all your effort defensively of the board and makes it tough."
Payton Pritchard, freshman guard
On how the Ducks set the tone
"It started with defense again, which set us up in transition. We got a lot of deflections tonight and it just led to easy layups."
Jordan Bell, junior post
On Oregon's current level of play
"I think every month we've gotten better and better. We're a totally different team than when we played in Maui, and at Baylor. If we played those teams again, I think we'd win. I think we're making steps consistently."
Notable: Utah's leading scorer, junior forward Kyle Kuzma, did not suit up due to an ankle injury. Kuzma is averaging 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. … Brooks finished the game with 1,395 career points to pass former teammate Joe Young (1,388/2013-15) for 16th in UO scoring. ... The Ducks wore new "electric green" uniforms. … UO freshman Keith Smith suited up but did not play, missing his fifth straight game. … Former UO running back De'Anthony Thomas sat courtside with new head football coach Willie Taggart. … Olympic gold medalist and former seven-time UO all-American Matthew Centrowitz was honored at center court during a first-half timeout.
Up Next: The Ducks play their 2016-17 home finale against Colorado on Saturday (noon, FOX).
Team Stats
UTAH
ORE
FG%
.382
.534
3FG%
.158
.368
FT%
.545
.909
RB
31
38
TO
10
13
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballOregon Men's Basketball | Who Woulda Thought - Episode 2
Monday, September 08
Oregon Men's Basketball | Who Woulda Thought - Episode 1
Friday, August 22
Dana Altman | Selection Sunday
Sunday, March 16
Keeshawn Barthelemy & Jadrian Tracey | Selection Sunday
Sunday, March 16
