Oregon basketball gets much-needed bounce-back win over Oregon State

Oregon basketball got a much-needed blowout win over Oregon State on Saturday night to complete the season sweep and bounce back from a Colorado loss.

For 12 minutes on Saturday night, it looked like Oregon State would give Oregon basketball all it could handle for a second time this season.

Then Jacob Young hit a jumper to give the Ducks an 18-17 lead and Oregon never looked back. In fact, the Ducks never trailed again and just expanded its lead throughout the game, finishing with a 78-56 win at Matthew Knight Arena to improve to 13-7.

Oregon State, on the other hand, fell to 3-15 on the year and just 1-7 in conference play.

Unlike the Ducks’ win over Oregon State in Corvallis a few weeks ago, the final result was never in question. Oregon shook off a sluggish start and made a strong run to the final buzzer.

It was good to see this type of response as it felt like the Ducks were still reeling early in the game after losing to Colorado in shocking fashion last week. They battled back to take a healthy lead into halftime and then cruised in the second half for a big win to make it now seven out of the last eight for Oregon.

The Ducks played great defense, holding the Beavers to just 30 percent shooting from the floor and 28 percent from beyond the arc. They also had 10 steals and blocked eight shots.

Will Richardson, De’Vion Harmon, and Jacob Young led a three-headed attack on offense, combining for 46 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. They also shot 17-for-30 from the floor and 7-for-14 from deep. This was one of the most balanced games from all three.

Oregon needed a win like this after a disappointing home loss to Colorado and there’s a favorable stretch approaching, which kicks off with a rematch against the Buffaloes in Bouler on Feb. 3.

This is the time to go on a nice little run to get back into NCAA tourney and Pac-12 title contention.