Hot Shooting Keeps Ducks Perfect In Pac-12 Play

Saturday, January 6

Pullman, WA

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

12-3,4-0Pac-12

Washington State

10-5,1-3Pac-12

Oregon

Washington St.

Photo by: Carter Cunningham

01/06/24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PULLMAN, Wash. – Oregon sank 14 3-pointers and shot 58.2-percent from the field to fuel an 89-84 win over Washington State on the road Saturday night, improving to 4-0 in Pac-12 play.

The Ducks (12-3, 4-0 Pac-12) shot a blistering 69.2-percent from the field in the first half – connecting on 15 of their first 18 attempts – but the Cougars (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12) stuck around to make it a two-point affair with under a minute to play in the game. With 40 seconds on the clock, Jadrian Tracey knocked down the 14th UO triple of the night, which proved to be the difference maker in Oregon's fifth-straight victory. Oregon made at least 14 shots from deep for the first time since sinking 15 against Oregon State during the 2020-21 campaign.

Brennan Rigsby led the Ducks in scoring with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting and a 4-for-5 performance from behind the arc. Jermaine Couisnard logged 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Kario Oquendo used a perfect 3-point shooting performance (4-for-4) to score 15, including 11 in the second half. Jackson Shelstad was the fourth Duck in double figures, scoring 14 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.

ShelstadJackson_atWSU_20240106

How It Happened: Oregon came out of the gates hot by making 15 of its first 18 shots from the field –including a 7-for-9 clip from deep – using savvy ball movement to find open spaces in Washington State's zone defense. The Cougars used seven Duck turnovers to stay in the game, taking a 35-33 lead with just over six minutes to play in the period. Oregon took back control with a 9-0 scoring run, and entered halftime with a 46-41 lead.

The hot shooting continued for UO out of the break as the Ducks sank their first five shots – including back-to-back buckets from Rigsby – to score 12 points and grow the lead, 58-46. Oregon kept Washington State at a distance for the next several minutes, but the home team strung together a streak of five-straight makes from the floor, powering an 11-3 run that shrunk the Duck lead down to four with just over three minutes to play.

Oquendo knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game to slow the run, but the Cougars responded with a triple of their own followed by a tough layup by Myles Rice that brought the lead down to just two points with under two minutes remaining. After coming up empty on the offensive end, the Duck defense forced a miss on an inbound play to regain control with a minute showing on the clock.

Content to run the time down, the Ducks passed the ball around before finding an open Tracey, who knocked down Oregon's 14th triple of the night with 40-seconds to go. A Rice layup with 10 seconds remaining brought the game back to a one-possession affair, but a pair of free throws from Keeshawn Barthelemy secured the victory for Oregon.

Notables: Oregon is 11-0 under head coach Dana Altman when making at least 14 3-pointers…Oregon is 4-0 to begin Pac-12 play for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Up Next: The Ducks are back home on Saturday, Jan. 13, to take on California (Pac-12 Networks, 5 p.m. PT).