Oregon Ducks take down Stanford Cardinal 78-67
The Oregon Ducks comfortable 78-67 victory over the Stanford Cardinal last night in Eugene qualifies as a minor upset in the Pac-12. This was a very important win for a mediocre Ducks team, as they beat one of the best teams in a weak Pac-12. Stanford isn’t the toughest opponent in the world, but Oregon dispatched them by more than ten points and just increased their clout in an uncertain conference. Although he didn’t have any assists, Devoe Joseph put together a career game with 30 points and seven rebounds on 9-15 shooting. Joseph is continuing to prove that he is one of the most talented players in the conference, and he knocked down five of the seven three-pointers he took.
Stanford’s Josh Owens can also claim to be one of the best players in the Pac-12, and he’s better than Joseph right now. Owens didn’t do as well as the Ducks guard in this game, but he still had a team-high 19 points and shot 8-13 from the floor with five rebounds and two blocks. Although Owens played solid defense during this game, the usually rugged Cardinal defense was quite underwhelming in this game. Both teams kept the same pace, but the Cardinal allowed 78 points and were surprisingly outrebounded.
This game was all about Devoe Joseph roasting, as only E.J. Singler had a solid game for the Ducks. He scored 13 points and was the only other Duck in double figures; he has been in double figures in 12 games this season. John Gage put up 13 for the Cardinal, and Aaron Bright had 14 points and 5 assists despite shooting just 41.7%. A stat to note is that the Ducks are undefeated (9-0) when scoring at least 70 points.
The Ducks outshot Stanford 55.8% to 48.4% according to effective field goal percentage, and they were the better team in all aspects of the game. This was definitely a huge win for the Ducks, and maybe this ballclub can get something started and make a run for a top four spot in the Pac-12. Stanford is still the second best team in the conference, but it’s becoming clear that there definitely isn’t a great team in this conference. The only legitimately good team in this conference is California, and they need to work on some consistency issues right now. However, things could get better for the Ducks right now with Joseph playing very well and an efficient supporting cast. They could make a run at a tournament spot, but they are an NIT team for now. Stanford is still a top 40 team, while Oregon is barely one of the best 90 teams. California is the only team who could ever hope to hold a top 25 ranking in the conference this season, but the Ducks should be able to build on this win and achieve more in the future.
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