Oregon Basketball: Chris Duarte Leads Ducks To Overtime Win vs USC Trojans

The Oregon Ducks needed double overtime and a 30 point performance from Chris Duarte to beat the USC Trojans on Thursday night.

Oregon Basketball hosted the USC Trojans in a game for first place in the Pac-12 on Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena. Both teams have been playing well to this point, and this was a chance for Oregon to hold court at home in a key conference matchup.

Payton Pritchard picked up where he left off vs Washington with the first points of the game. Four minutes into the game Oregon had a 10-5 lead with some key plays by Shakur Juiston under the basket. Oregon scored over half their points in a 90-second span. The Ducks were shooting 86 percent from the floor in the opening five and a half minutes.

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Both teams entered scoring droughts with Oregon hitting one shot and the Trojans turning the ball over four times and not scoring for over four minutes. USC was 2 for 10 over a five-minute span starting the game hitting 25 percent from the floor with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.

The USC Trojans finished the first half hitting 5 for 7, including two three-pointers to pull within two points as the Ducks and Trojans headed to the locker room. Foul trouble was the story of the first half for the Ducks as four players had two fouls entering the second half and Will Patterson had three.

Oregon started the second half on a 10-0 run forcing a USC timeout taking a 42-32 lead with 16:06 left in the game. Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte were responsible for the run with Pritchard dishing twice to Duarte near the basket.

Midway through the second half Payton Pritchard made a few milestones becoming the first player in Pac-12 history to record 1500 points, 500 rebounds and 600 assists standing alone at the top of each category and receiving a round of applause from the crowd at Matthew Knight Arena.

Pritchard hit a basket with just over 8 minutes left as USC pulled to within six. He was fouled on the play as the ball rolled in. He finished with a free throw for the three-point play. The Ducks would hit a cold streak and have back to back turnovers as the Trojans tied the game with a three-pointer with just over five minutes remaining. Payton Pritchard would put the Ducks back up by two.

USC reeled off a 17-2 run over a five-minute span as Oregon went 1 for 7 from the floor with just over two minutes remaining. The Trojans who were 82 percent on the night from the free-throw line would cone through again taking a one-point lead. CJ Walker pulled the Ducks within two as it was 62-60 USC with just over a minute left.

The game would be in Payton Pritchard’s hands at the end of regulation. The shot did not fall and the game went to overtime tied at 62. It would be tied at 67 with Pritchard again having the final shot that went off the top of the iron sending the game to a second overtime.

Both Chris Duarte and Payton Pritchard would go to the free-throw line giving the Ducks a four-point lead with just under four minutes to play. Duarte hit a three-pointer a minute later to push the Oregon lead to 74-68 forcing a USC timeout. The Ducks won 79-70 as Pritchard and Duarte teamed up for most of the points in both overtime periods leading to the win.

Oregon returns to Matthew Knight Arena to take on the UCLA Bruins on Sunday at 2 pm Pacific Time on FOX.

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