Defense Delivers in Win at UW

Saturday, March 9

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

19-12, 10-8

Washington

24-7, 15-3

Oregon

Washington

Photo by: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

03/09/19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score MBB Box - Oregon 55, Washington 47

A great defensive effort and an 18-3 run in the first half lifted the Oregon men's basketball team to a 55-47 win over Washington to cap off the regular season.

SEATTLE, Wash. – Thanks to a solid defensive effort and an 18-3 run in the first half, Oregon capped off the regular season with a 55-47 win over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday.

The Ducks have now won four in a row to earn the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 tournament where they will face the No. 11 seed, Washington State, at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

How It Happened: The Huskies (24-7, 15-3 Pac-12) made their first shot attempt of the night, a three-pointer from one of their senior leaders, Matisse Thybulle, feeding into the rowdy senior-night crowd. But things quieted down in Seattle as Oregon's defense came to fruition and would only allow Washington to make four more field goals for the remainder of the half.

Offensively, Kenny Wooten was the first to get the Ducks (19-12, 10-8 Pac-12) on the board. The sophomore threw down two alley-oops within a few minutes of each other, and in addition to a Francis Okoro hookshot sandwiched in between, the Ducks jumped out to a 6-3 lead. From there, Oregon maintained control through the game.

A combination of deflections, steals and offensive rebounds allowed the Ducks to go on an 18-3 run. Paul White led the Oregon charge, notching eight points in a little over 5 minutes, and out-scoring the entire Washington squad who only had six points through the first 11 minutes, as the Ducks built a 24-8 lead.

At the under-eight media timeout, the Ducks had held Washington to only three field goals. Following the break, the home team tried to chip away at Oregon's lead as the Ducks struggled to find the basket during a three minute stretch. But Okoro came up big on the offensive boards to help Oregon end their scoring drought and head into the locker room holding onto a nine-point lead, 27-28.

Washington was beginning to get things to fall its way to open the second frame, and with the crowd behind them, it felt like it was going to be the perfect set up for a senior night comeback win. But Oregon had other plans.

The Ducks relied on their defense to carry them through the final 20 minutes of the game. At the 9:08 mark, Pritchard picked the pocket of a Washington player at half court and drove to the basket on the other end to get the bucket and the foul.

Case and point.

Washington continued to fight on its senior night, but additional defensive stops throughout the half and seven points in the final three minutes allowed Oregon to close out the win in Seattle.

Who Stood Out: Payton Pritchard had 16 points, five steals and three rebounds ... Paul White also scored in double-figures with 10 points before fouling out ... Francis Okoro tied his career-high with 10 rebounds, and was just one point shy of his first double-double ... Louis King grabbed nine rebounds and tallied seven points.

Notable: Washington's 18 points were the fewest Oregon has allowed in the first half of a Pac-12 game this season (previous low: 20 vs. Stanford on Feb. 10), and was the second-lowest overall (15 vs. Eastern Washington on Nov. 9) ... With four steals tonight, Payton Pritchard moved into a tie for fourth in UO career steals. He passed Luke Ridnour (150/2000-03), who was in attendance tonight, and tied Johnathan Loyd (2010-14). Pritchard and Loyd currently have 152 career steals ... With 16 points tonight, Payton Pritchard moved to 24th in career scoring with 1,190 points. Tonight he passed Bob Hamilton (1,183/1943-46) and Dick Wilkins (1,186/1944-48) ... 32 of the Ducks' 55 points were scored in the paint.

Quotable:
Dana Altman, Head Coach
"I liked the way our guys were flying at their shooters. Defensively, we just found a way."

Payton Pritchard, Junior
"The last five games, we've played only one bad half of basketball ... It took us a while but we're starting to gel now."

Francis Okoro, Freshman
"Everything coach is telling us is working now."

Up Next: The Ducks travel to Las Vegas where they will face Washington State in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).