Oregon Ducks Battle, But Lose In Final Minutes vs USC Trojans
The Oregon Ducks lost in the final minutes for the second straight game giving the USC Trojans their first win at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Oregon Ducks returned home after a successful road trip going 1-1 against Arizona State and Arizona. The most important home stretch of the season started with USC on Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Freshman has 51 blocks on the season and is two blocks away from making the Top 5 List for a single season. If he can stay out of early foul trouble that kept him from key minutes against Arizona State and Arizona, Oregon may be better able to pull from the experience this season to compete against USC.
USC won the opening tip but failed to score on their first three possessions. Oregon had Elijah Brown and Kenny Wooten with a foul each before the first media timeout and a 4-2 lead for the Ducks. The Trojans came out of the timeout and hit back to back three-pointers to take a 12-6 lead forcing an Oregon Timeout.
The Trojans would go on a 14-0 run keeping Oregon off the scoreboard for a five-minute span taking a 16-6 lead. The Oregon Ducks climbed back to within 4, but Bennie Boatwright could not be stopped in the first half. He hit a three-pointer to push the Trojans lead to 32-27 and had 12 points with 2 minutes left in the first half.
Payton Pritchard hit a three-pointer to make it 36-35 just before halftime. He was 3 for 4 from the floor. Paul White led Oregon with 10 points. Boatwright led for USC with 12 points hitting 50 percent from the floor off 5 for 10 shooting.
MiKyle McIntosh gives Oregon the lead to open the second half, but USC comes right back off a three-pointer from Boatwright. It would go back and forth and with 13:03 remaining Boatwright hit a three-pointer for a 52-49 USC lead.
The Oregon Ducks came back again to take the lead and with 8:00 left led by a point 58-57.
Dana Altman watched Oregon go cold for a four-minute span. Both teams had 15 assists and Oregon saw three players with three fouls with just over 7 minutes left in the game.
Oregon found a four-point run that woke up the crowd with Payton Pritchard and Elijah Brown landing shots to take a 4 point lead 65-61 and forcing a USC timeout. After that, it was mostly USC. Jordan McLaughlin was 7 for 9 from the free throw line with key shots from the charity stripe in the final minute to give USC a 75-70 win.
Next: Jordan Bell Injures Ankle vs Chicago Bulls
The Oregon Ducks have 7 losses on the season, more than they had all of last season and will look to rebound against UCLA on Saturday. (7 pm PT, ESPN)