Saturday, March 4
Corvallis, Ore.
3:00 PM
University of Oregon
27-4, 16-2
80
at
59
Oregon State
5-26, 1-17
1
2
F
Oregon
32
48
80
Oregon State
24
35
59
Photo by: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Ducks Have Plenty in Reserve to Win Back-to-Back Pac-12 Crowns
03/04/17 | Men's Basketball
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Dillon Brooks scored 25 points to lead Oregon to an 80-59 win over Oregon State Saturday afternoon at Gill Coliseum that clinched the Ducks' second straight Pac-12 championship.
By virtue of Oregon's 85-58 win against Arizona on Feb. 4, the Ducks (27-4, 16-2) will be the No. 1 seed for next week's Pac-12 Tournament. OSU (5-26, 1-17) will be the No. 12 seed, while the Wildcats get the No. 2 seed.
How It Happened: While Brooks presented his closing arguments for Pac-12 player of the year consideration, it was Oregon's reserves that rescued the Ducks from a lack-luster performance.
Paced by 14 points from Casey Benson and 12 by Chris Boucher, the Duck reserves outscored the Beaver bench 33-7.
Leading by eight points at intermission, Oregon blew the game open with a 21-6 run to open the second half that made it 53-30 with 13:34 remaining. The Beavers were never closer than 17 after that.
Brooks had seven of his game-high 25 points during that run, while Benson added five.
The only thing that slowed Brooks in the first half was fouls. He went to the bench with two after scoring 12 points in just 10 minutes. After Brooks sat, the Ducks were able to gradually build a 32-24 halftime lead, thanks to a late 10-2 run.
Who Stood Out: Jordan Bell made his case for Pac-12 defensive player of the year with his fifth double-double of the season – 13 points and 10 rebounds – to go with three blocks and two steals.
Payton Pritchard made just one field goal, but had six assists and seven rebounds. In addition to his 14 points, Benson grabbed four rebounds with three assists, while Boucher paired his 12 points with four blocks. Kavell Bigby-Williams scored four points with four rebounds off the bench, while Roman Sorkin added three.
What It Means: Oregon won back-to-back conference titles for the first time in program history. It was the sixth overall conference title for Oregon. The others came in 1919 (Pacific Coast Conference), 1939 (PCC), 1945 (PCC), 2002 (Pac-10) and 2016 (Pac-12). The 16 conference wins are also a program best.
Quotable:
Head coach Dana Altman
"I'm extremely happy for our players. Jordan's been with us three years, Casey's been with us three years. That work that you put in, conference championships are hard. You play 18 games. To be able to win it back to back, I think the guys will realize the significance of it when they bring their kids back to Oregon."
Junior guard Casey Benson
"It's extremely special. I think to do it two years in a row is what you play for – obviously to win championships knowing all the work you put in during the off season. So happy for everybody, especially this guy over there (Altman), he does more work than any of us. He deserves a ton of the credit to."
Notable: Brooks was named to the Wooden Award ballot (top 15) prior to Saturday's game. ... Oregon's record of 27-4 (.871) is the best in program history. … The last four seasons, Oregon is undefeated after Valentine's Day 22-0 in Pac-12 Conference games. … With nine blocked shots, Oregon's season total of 212 is third in Pac-12 history, just nine shy of the school record (221 in 2016) and 12 off the Pac-12 record (224 by Washington in 2016). … Dana Altman passed W.J. Reinhart (180/1923-35) for third in career coaching victories at Oregon with 181. … This is the first time the Ducks clinched a conference title with a win in the State of Oregon since 1945 (2002 and 2016 both happened in Los Angeles). … Freshman Keith Smith, who had been battling injuries of late, made his first appearance for the Ducks since Jan. 28 at Colorado.
Up Next: The Ducks will open the Pac-12 Tournament with a quarterfinal match Thursday at noon in Las Vegas (Pac-12 Networks).
By virtue of Oregon's 85-58 win against Arizona on Feb. 4, the Ducks (27-4, 16-2) will be the No. 1 seed for next week's Pac-12 Tournament. OSU (5-26, 1-17) will be the No. 12 seed, while the Wildcats get the No. 2 seed.
How It Happened: While Brooks presented his closing arguments for Pac-12 player of the year consideration, it was Oregon's reserves that rescued the Ducks from a lack-luster performance.
Paced by 14 points from Casey Benson and 12 by Chris Boucher, the Duck reserves outscored the Beaver bench 33-7.
Leading by eight points at intermission, Oregon blew the game open with a 21-6 run to open the second half that made it 53-30 with 13:34 remaining. The Beavers were never closer than 17 after that.
Brooks had seven of his game-high 25 points during that run, while Benson added five.
The only thing that slowed Brooks in the first half was fouls. He went to the bench with two after scoring 12 points in just 10 minutes. After Brooks sat, the Ducks were able to gradually build a 32-24 halftime lead, thanks to a late 10-2 run.
Who Stood Out: Jordan Bell made his case for Pac-12 defensive player of the year with his fifth double-double of the season – 13 points and 10 rebounds – to go with three blocks and two steals.
Payton Pritchard made just one field goal, but had six assists and seven rebounds. In addition to his 14 points, Benson grabbed four rebounds with three assists, while Boucher paired his 12 points with four blocks. Kavell Bigby-Williams scored four points with four rebounds off the bench, while Roman Sorkin added three.
What It Means: Oregon won back-to-back conference titles for the first time in program history. It was the sixth overall conference title for Oregon. The others came in 1919 (Pacific Coast Conference), 1939 (PCC), 1945 (PCC), 2002 (Pac-10) and 2016 (Pac-12). The 16 conference wins are also a program best.
Quotable:
Head coach Dana Altman
"I'm extremely happy for our players. Jordan's been with us three years, Casey's been with us three years. That work that you put in, conference championships are hard. You play 18 games. To be able to win it back to back, I think the guys will realize the significance of it when they bring their kids back to Oregon."
Junior guard Casey Benson
"It's extremely special. I think to do it two years in a row is what you play for – obviously to win championships knowing all the work you put in during the off season. So happy for everybody, especially this guy over there (Altman), he does more work than any of us. He deserves a ton of the credit to."
Notable: Brooks was named to the Wooden Award ballot (top 15) prior to Saturday's game. ... Oregon's record of 27-4 (.871) is the best in program history. … The last four seasons, Oregon is undefeated after Valentine's Day 22-0 in Pac-12 Conference games. … With nine blocked shots, Oregon's season total of 212 is third in Pac-12 history, just nine shy of the school record (221 in 2016) and 12 off the Pac-12 record (224 by Washington in 2016). … Dana Altman passed W.J. Reinhart (180/1923-35) for third in career coaching victories at Oregon with 181. … This is the first time the Ducks clinched a conference title with a win in the State of Oregon since 1945 (2002 and 2016 both happened in Los Angeles). … Freshman Keith Smith, who had been battling injuries of late, made his first appearance for the Ducks since Jan. 28 at Colorado.
Up Next: The Ducks will open the Pac-12 Tournament with a quarterfinal match Thursday at noon in Las Vegas (Pac-12 Networks).
Team Stats
ORE
OSU
FG%
.518
.343
3FG%
.364
.222
FT%
.667
1.000
RB
35
40
TO
8
12
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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