Oregon Ducks Battle But Come Up Short Against Utah Utes
After a well-played first half, the Oregon Ducks were undisciplined in the second half with key players fouling out in a 66-56 loss vs Utah.
The Oregon Ducks opened Pac-12 Conference play hosting the Utah Utes. Utah would win the opening tip and David Collette missed his first shot of the night. Troy Brown put Oregon on the board first to take an early 2-0 lead.
Oregon jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Tyler Lawson hit a three-pointer for Utah to cut the lead in half. The Ducks were getting to the boards early and winning the battle. Into the first media timeout, Wooten had 2 rebounds and 2 steals as the Ducks led 9-5.
MiKyle McIntosh had two three-pointers and the Ducks had 4 of 7 from beyond the arc with 10:44 left in the first half. Oregon pushed their lead to 21-8 forcing a Utah timeout. The Ducks were on an 11-0 run against the Pac-12’s Best Three-Point Defense.
Oregon had their first personal foul of the game against MiKyle McIntosh at the 10-minute mark. With McIntosh out, Utah started a run of their own and Oregon had a cold spell for over three minutes. The Ducks were outrebounding Utah 16 to 8 over the first 13 minutes holding Utah to 40 percent shooting from the floor. David Collette was 1 for 4.
Troy Brown hit a three-pointer getting the Ducks out of a scoring drought but the Ducks would travel their next time down the court. Oregon led 24-14 with 4:30 to go in the first half.
Oregon played a disciplined first half giving up just three fouls, two on Mikyle McIntosh. Kenny Wooten keyed the Defense with 4 blocks. The Ducks took a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
Utah opened the second half and tied the game at 31. After Elijah Brown gave the Ducks the lead back, David Collette picked up his third foul after a basket. The disciplined first half was unraveling quickly as Kenny Wooten picked up two fouls in a 10-second span and Utah tied the game at 36.
Fouls started piling up on Oregon and Utah took a 48-45 lead off a double technical foul that involved Troy Brown. The Utes added a Justin Bibbens three-pointer as the Utes went on a 7-0 run. Kenny Wooten who played well in the first half picked up his fourth foul with 9:04 left in the game. Utah led 51-45.
Oregon battled and went scoreless for a three-minute span in the final nine minutes. Elijah Brown hit a three-pointer pulling Oregon within five points, but MiKyle McIntosh took a 5th foul and was out of the game with 2:11 to go.
Dana Altman watched his team finish the game 1 for 7 from the floor while watching Utah go on a 7-0 run to win the game 66-56. Oregon took three-pointers over the last six minutes of the game. It was the Utes first win at Matthew Knight Arena in six tries as they head to Oregon State Sunday and host Arizona and Arizona State next week.
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Oregon and Utah do not meet again this season. The Ducks face Colorado on Sunday at 7 pm Pacific Time at Matthew Knight Arena.