Ducks Advance To Pac-12 Semifinals

Thursday, March 9

Las Vegas, NV

2:30 PM

University of Oregon

19-13,12-8Pac-12

Washington State

17-16,11-9Pac-12

Washington St.

Oregon

Photo by: Aimee Sinacola/GoDucks.com

03/09/23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Oregon raced out to the lead, endured a three-point barrage by WSU and made big plays down the stretch to win Thursday's quarterfinal.

By: Rob Moseley

LAS VEGAS — Oregon led by as much as 19 in the first half and trailed by as many as four in the second half Thursday, but stout defense to close out a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal gave the Ducks a 75-70 win over Washington State at T-Mobile Arena.

The UO men (19-13) kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive by advancing to face UCLA in Friday's semifinals. A 9-of-13 stretch of three-point shooting by WSU from late in the first half to midway through the second half Thursday put those hopes in doubt for the Ducks, but Oregon held the Cougars scoreless over the final 3:35 of the game to survive and earn another game here.

"We did what we had to do to advance," UO coach Dana Altman said. "It could have been a little easier. … But this is a team that has hit 14 threes on six different occasions, and leads the league in three-point shooting. No lead is safe with them, and we knew that."

Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jermaine Couisnard scored 17 apiece for Oregon, while N'Faly Dante had his 10th double-double of the season — and fifth in the last six games — with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Barthelemy hit a three-pointer for a 68-68 tie and then a bucket on the next possession for a 70-70 tie, after what ended up being WSU's final points of the game.

"I feel like I got away from my aggressiveness the beginning of the second half, but my teammates were there for me and allowed me to do what I do," Barthelemy said. "And at the end of the day we got stops, because if Washington State can't score as many points as us, they can't win. That's what mattered down the stretch."

N'Faly Dante Drive

How It Happened: The question entering Thursday's game was whether Oregon could get enough two-point baskets to survive WSU's three-point shooting, and the answer early was a decided "yes." The Ducks had 26 points in the paint in the first half, with Dante and Quincy Guerrier scoring in the post and Couisnard driving to the rim. That also opened up the perimeter for early three-pointers by Kel'el Ware and Barthelemy, and a three by Couisnard later in the first half gave Oregon its biggest lead, 34-15.

Oregon held WSU to 1-of-12 shooting for a stretch of nearly eight minutes of the first half, on the way to that 19-point lead. But with the Ducks up 38-20, Washington State closed the second half on a 10-0 run that included two threes — a sign of things to come early in the second half.

"I made a mistake, let them get that 10-0 run on us; I should have taken a timeout during that period," Altman said. "And that really changed the momentum of the game."

The Cougars then made 6-of-9 three-pointer to open the second half, the last of which gave them a 58-57 lead — their first since it was 9-8 in the opening minutes of the game. Oregon was mired in an 0-of-7 shooting stretch as WSU took the lead, an advantage that ultimately got to as much as four at 62-58.

Keeshawn Barthelemy Jube

But Barthelemy hit a three with 7:01 left to get it back to a one-point game, and he hit two more clutch shots for the ties at 68-68 and 70-70. A steal by Dante after Oregon tied it was wasted when he then turned it over at the other end, but Dante then rebounded a WSU miss and at the other end put back a miss by Barthelemy for a 72-70 lead. After the teams traded misses, Dante proceeded to block a shot with 28 seconds to go; he left the game at that point to be attended by athletic trainers, but Barthelemy hit one of two free throws and Rivaldo Soares made two more free throws after a WSU turnover to clinch the win.

"Those were two really big defensive plays (by Dante)," Altman said, adding that Dante seemed to have avoided an injury despite needing help off the floor late in the game. "He was worried about the turnover that he had, but the deflection and steal that he got, and the big block, both were really key for us."

Notable: The Ducks got a couple key contributions from young big men. Ware had seven points with seven rebounds, while Nate Bittle drew three charges in the game and had two steals. Each also blocked a pair of shots. … The Ducks have yet to win this season when allowing more than 70 points. … Lök Wur returned after missing the final weekend of the regular season due to injury. … Oregon has won at least one game every year the Pac-12 Tournament has been contested since 2012.

Postgame Bracket Jube

Quotable:
UO coach Dana Altman on the contributions of Barthelemy, a first-year transfer
"For a guy to accept coming off the bench and being a spark plug — he played starters minutes, played 30 minutes — but for him to take that roll and accept it, he hasn't complained one time. He's all about the team."

UO coach Dana Altman on keys to Friday's semifinal against the Bruins
"We know what we've got to do — we've got to outrebound people, and we've got to defend. We haven't been successful against UCLA twice because they outrebounded us. They got us both games in the second half; we led both games at the half and they just outrebounded us the second half. So we're going to have to do a better job there."

Up Next: The Ducks face top-seeded UCLA in the semifinals Friday (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).