Oregon Basketball: Ducks Drop Civil War at Oregon State

Chris Duarte and Payton Pritchard led the Oregon Ducks in scoring, but the second half saw Oregon miss ten straight shots in a 63-53 loss to Oregon State.

For the second straight game, Oregon had a lead and lost it in the second half. Oregon opened the second 20 minutes of play scoring three straight times down the floor to build a 10 point lead. The Ducks played short as N’Faly Dante and Francis Okoro were not available for the game at Oregon State.

Without their respective size, Oregon was forced to play small and it was not to their advantage as Oregon State made second-half adjustments as the Ducks forced long shots and were not easily able to go inside. Oregon State finished with 17 assists and 34 points in the paint. OSU also had 12 second-chance points.

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For Oregon, Anthony Mathis had a chance to step up but had just six points in 22 minutes. The Ducks had Shakur Juiston as a big on offense. He finished with 5 points and 10 of the Ducks 31 rebounds in the game. Oregon State was also able to get to the free-throw line hitting 12 of 13 from the charity stripe. Oregon was just 2 for 4.

Of course, Dante and Okoro would have certainly helped, but good teams find ways to adjust and win. Oregon was not the team that found a way vs Oregon State. The Ducks dropped in the AP Poll, entering this week 17th with some key games at Matthew Knight Arena this weekend.

I expect that Dante and Okoro will be available. With Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte on a roll of late, the Ducks need to have a sense of urgency this weekend. Colorado has a one-game lead in the Pac-12 over Oregon and two other teams. A win Thursday night as the Ducks defend home court would be big and put the team back where they need to be as they travel to face the Arizona schools next week.

Oregon and Colorado tipoff from Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday at 6 pm Pacific Time on ESPN.

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