University of Oregon
20-12
Washington State
11-21
Ducks Double Down on Defense
03/13/19 | Men's Basketball
The Oregon men's basketball team registered 14 steals and held Washington State to 51 points in its first-round Pac-12 Tournament win on Wednesday.
LAS VEGAS – The Oregon men's basketball team doubled down on defense to stifle the Pac-12's leading scorer and produce the largest margin of victory in Pac-12 Tournament history.
The Ducks held Robert Franks to eight points and throttled Washington State 84-51 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
WSU was the fifth straight opponent that Oregon held below 62 points - something that the Ducks haven't done since the 1984-85 season.
The Ducks also reached the 20-win plateau for the ninth consecutive season. Oregon is now just one of 11 teams nationally with nine or more consecutive 20-win seasons.
How It Happened: It took the Ducks (20-12) a little over three minutes to get going, but once they found their rhythm, there was no stopping.
Sparked by a Louis King steal and a putback layup by Francis Okoro, the Ducks exploded for an 18-0 run against Washington State (11-21) to give them an 18-3 edge at the 8:50 mark. During this span, Oregon's defense was unbelievable.
The Ducks recorded eight steals during their offensive surge – contributing to a total of 14 steals over the course of the game, tying their season high. The Ducks held Washington State to just one made field goal until the 7:07 mark, not allowing the Cougars to break double digits until around 14 minutes into the game.
The Ducks built on their 37-22 halftime lead through the final 20 minutes of the game. Will Richardson started things off by finishing through contact to get three the hard way. A couple possessions later, Payton Pritchard knocked down a three after Kenny Wooten grabbed an offensive rebound and found him in the corner. Then Paul White hit one from deep on the next possession, a quick 9-0 run to put Oregon up by 26.
From there, Oregon maintained control both offensively and defensively. The Ducks notched 10 points in the final four minutes to defeat the Cougs by a 33-point margin, setting a new Pac-12 Tournament record.
Who Stood Out: Ehab Amin registered a game-high 17 points … Louis King recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals … Miles Norris notched 14 points … Will Richardson also scored in double-figures with 10 points … Payton Pritchard put up seven points and had three steals
Notable: No one has won more Pac-12 Tournament games in Las Vegas than Oregon. The Ducks are 14-4 since the league moved the championship to the desert in 2013 … With his second steal tonight, Payton Pritchard passed Malcolm Armstead (154/2010-11) for third in UO career steals. He finished the game with 156 … Miles Norris set a career high with 14 points … Oregon's margin of victory, 33 points, was one better than the previous tournament record of 32 when Arizona beat Utah, 71-39, on March 13, 2014 and UCLA beat Oregon State, 79-47, on March 9, 2006 … Oregon's 14 steals was one shy of the tournament record … Dana Altman tied Lute Olson for second-most Conference tournament wins all-time with 16 … Memphis guard and UO alum Dillon Brooks, who had some incredible performances here in Las Vegas, sat behind the Oregon bench.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, Head Coach
"I thought the guys played really hard. We flew around on defense. I thought the first half the defense was good. They did miss some open threes, which really helped us out. For the most part I thought our activity was really good."
Paul White, Senior Forward
"I think we did a good job of rotating, communicating with one another. I think that's been a key factor to the success of our defense so far."
Ehab Amin, Senior Forward
"Coach Altman has been emphasizing communication and defense and rebounding, like how we travel on the road, so that was the key for us, just talking and communicating and trying to help each other out if somebody misses out just by playing extra hard through the possessions."
Up Next: The Ducks will play #3 Utah in a rematch of the 2018 quarterfinals Thursday night (8:30 p.m., ESPN).
