Oregon State Leaves Oregon Playing Catchup, Ducks Fall in Civil War 80-72

Jan 19, 2014; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Hallice Cooke (3) and Oregon Ducks guard Johnathan Loyd (10) go for a loose ball in the first half at Gill Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon had the opportunity to get a victory in the Pac-12 Conference on Sunday night after nearly a week to prepare for the Oregon State Beavers. The opportunity to snap a three game losing streak did not come to fruition and now the Ducks are looking at four straight losses. The Ducks did prepare better on the Defensive end for the Civil War, but the Beavers would leave Oregon playing catch up most of the night. Dana Altman’s team had a 2-0 lead early, but it did not last long. If you blinked it was 30-14 Oregon State. Oregon did bring to within single digits at halftime only being down seven points. The second half was not much better for the Ducks as Oregon had opportunities to keep it close but could not finish losing 80-72 in the Civil War.

"We’re not doing the little things. We kind of got away with it for awhile (early in the season), but we’re not rebounding the ball, we’re not paying attention to tendencies and we’re letting people do what they want to do, instead of dictating.Oregon Senior Johnathan Loyd following the loss to Oregon State"

Oregon Transfers Mike Moser and Joseph Young entered the game averaging 33 points combined and were held to roughly 13 points each. Jason Calliste led the Ducks with 17 points. The Ducks shot themselves in the foot and while improving on Defense landed just 25 of 66 shots for the game. Thirty seven percent rarely gets the job done. Now Oregon turns their attention up I-5 North.

Last season the Ducks started Conference play on a losing streak and then went on to win five in a row. We can hope that this team can do something similar. With a trip to Pac-12 Rival Washington and Washington State this week Oregon needs to get it together. At the beginning of the season following last night the realistic expectation of this team was 2-2 in Conference play. I knew that victories against Cal and Colorado would be hard to come by. Currently standing at 1-3 in the Pac-12 is not really that far off. If they can get a few wins together they will be right back in the Pac-12 Conference race.

Oregon and Washington tip off on Thursday(8pm, Fox Sports 1) and visit Washington State on Sunday(4pm, Pac-12 Networks)