NCAA Tournament: Hometown Hero Elgin Cook Leads Oregon Past BYU 87-68
Mar 20, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Elgin Cook (23) goes up for a layup, guarded by Brigham Young Cougars guard Matt Carlino (2) and forward Eric Mika (00) during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Oregon and BYU knew each other fairly well heading into the NCAA Tournament 2nd Round game on Thursday in Milwaukee. The Ducks started the game with Jason Calliste and a homecoming for Elgin Cook getting the Ducks on the board early. Cook, a Wisconsin native, made the most of his opportunities in the first half going 4/4 with 10 points. Calliste hit 5/6 from the free throw line and the Ducks built a 26-15 lead with seven minutes left in the first half. But BYU would not go quietly going on a 6-0 run in the last few minutes of the first half and cutting the Oregon lead to single digits, 39-31. For the half Oregon shot 44 percent to the Cougars 28 percent. The Ducks led in rebounds 20 to 19 and had 21 points off the bench in the first half. The Ducks Bench(21) had more points in the first half than their starters(18).
The second half started a little sloppy for the Ducks with a turnover and a foul, but one man stepped up to get the Ducks back on track. Elgin Cook, the Milwaukee native, had an emphatic, Sportscenter Top 10 jam that forced a BYU timeout giving the Ducks a 47-35 lead with sixteen minutes left in the second half. Matt Carlino picked the right time to heat up for the Cougars hitting back to back shots bringin Brigham Young within three at 56-53 but Elgin Cook hit another bucket and on making it 59-53 Oregon. Cook had a career high 21 points with ten minutes left to play in the game.
BYU would keep it within ten points for the rest of the game but Oregon and Elgin Cook seemed to have an answer to just about every shot. At the 6:50 mark Oregon had their largest lead at 75-59 as Jason Calliste dropped a three point shot and the Cougars desparation shots were not hitting the mark. The Ducks averaged 81 points per game this season and hit that mark with 4:55 left in the game. In the second half the Cougars at one point missed 10 of 11 field goal attempts.
For the game Oregon shot 55 percent from the field. Elgin Cook led the Ducks with 23 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Joseph Young with 16 and Jason Calliste with 9. The Ducks had 48 points off the bench.
Oregon will move on to the Round of 32 to face #2 Seed in the West Region, Wisconsin on Saturday. Time is yet to be determined. The Badgers took care of American 75-35 earlier in the day in Milwaukee.
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