2012 NIT: Oregon Ducks beat LSU

The Oregon Ducks just demolished one of the best 25 defenses in college in a 96-76 victory against LSU in the opening round of the NIT. The Ducks will take on Iowa on Sunday in the next round after their huge win.

Devoe Joseph avenged his terrible performance against Colorado by going 11-17 with 25 points and making good on all the shots he took. That’s the star power we’ve been accustomed to seeing from Joseph, and he came up big in an important game. Stars win games for your team, and Devoe Joseph did just that. He played in 37 minutes, and he’s going to make me miss him even more.

Justin Hamilton also provided a big game for his team, and the Tigers still couldn’t give their star center sufficient support. Hamilton knocked down all nine of his free throw attempts and had the same number of rebounds; he ended up with a team-high 21 points overall.

Ralston Turner went 5-10, and Johnny O’Bryant and Anthony Hickey also went into double figures for the Tigers. Every starter for LSU turned the ball over three times, except for Hamilton who only turned it over once. Malcolm White went 3-5 with four boards off the bench, but no other LSU player did anything from the bench for the team.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Ducks received 20 combined points from bench stars Carlos Emory and Olu Ashaolu, but the important game came from Tony Woods. He has been coming up big down the home stretch for the Oregon Ducks, and the tough defensive player is starting to show some improvement on offense. He had some beautiful flashes throughout the game and will develop into a good offensive weapon next season, so that will be something for Oregon Ducks fans to watch for and to look forward to.

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