Cold Stretch Late Dooms Ducks

Saturday, February 8

Corvallis, OR

7:30 PM

University of Oregon

Oregon State

02/08/20 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon State 63, Oregon 53

Oregon led by 10 early in the second half Saturday at OSU but shots stopped falling and the Beavers completed a comeback.

By: Rob Moseley

CORVALLIS — The second half of a road game was unkind to the UO men's basketball team for the second game in a row Saturday, when the Ducks squandered a 10-point lead and lost, 63-53, to Oregon State before a sellout crowd in Gill Coliseum.

No. 14 Oregon (18-6, 7-4 Pac-12) made its first three shots of the second half to lead 40-30. But after Chris Duarte scored to make it 42-34 with 14:50 left in the game, the Ducks missed their next 10 shots and went scoreless for a stretch of 8:44 to fall behind 44-42. The UO men briefly fought back into the lead, but after Payton Pritchard's basket got Oregon within 52-50 late in the game, OSU finished the game on an 11-3 run.

The Ducks have lost consecutive games for the first time since late November.

"We've been here before; last year was obviously was worse," Pritchard said. "We've just got to try to regroup, come back and go on a run."

How It Happened: The game featured shades of last week's loss at Stanford, which also featured cold shooting by Oregon after halftime. The Ducks shot 50 percent in the first half Saturday night, leading 32-38 at halftime and surging ahead by 10 with an 8-0 run early in the second half.

But after Duarte's basket put the Ducks up eight at 42-34, Oregon went ice cold, missing everything from point-blank looks at the rim to three-pointers. OSU put together a 14-2 run to lead 44-42, which finally ended when Pritchard tied it 44-44 with 6:06 to play. Will Richardson scored on Oregon's next possession, but 46-44 was the Ducks' last lead of the game.

"We've gotta get better inside at finishing, as guards," Pritchard said. "I think our shooting will come, but we've got to get in the paint more."

After Pritchard tied the game again at 48-48, the teams traded missed three-pointers before Zach Reichle's dunk in transition gave OSU the lead for good. Pritchard was the only UO player to score in the final 5 minutes of the game, including a desperation three-pointer when Oregon was down 59-50 with 15 seconds left.

The first half went back and forth, with nine lead changes. Oregon State led for a majority of the half and was up 24-19 when the Ducks got back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Anthony Mathis, Shakur Juiston and then Mathis again to tie it 28-28. The Ducks then got baskets from Duarte and Chandler Lawson to finish the half on a 13-4 run and lead 32-28.

Who Stood Out: Pritchard finished with 16 points on 7-of-21 shooting, his late three-pointer the only one he made on eight attempts. Duarte added 11 points, and Juiston added five points with 10 rebounds.

What It Means: The Ducks played without big men Francis Okoro and N'Faly Dante, limiting their ability to attack in the paint and allowing the Beavers to extend their defense out on the UO guards. The loss cost Oregon a share of first place in the Pac-12, but the Ducks have a chance to regain it when they host Colorado on Thursday.

Notable: Pritchard made the 133rd start of his career, the most in UO history. He was tied with E.J. Singler entering Saturday. … Pritchard now has 630 career assists, moving him up to No. 11 in Pac-12 history. At 10th is Darrick Martin (UCLA, 1989-92) with 636. … Juiston's 10 rebounds were a season high

Up Next: The Ducks host the Buffs in Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN).