Oregon notches nail-biting win over Washington State, advances to Pac-12 tournament semifinals
With its season on the brink, the Oregon men’s basketball team found a way to survive and advance on Thursday.
The Ducks topped the Washington State Cougars, 75-70, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. With the win, No. 4-seeded Oregon improved to 19-13 on the season and booked a Friday showdown with the top-seeded UCLA Bruins.
Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jermaine Couisnard scored 17 points apiece for the Ducks, and N’Faly Dante tallied 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
For Washington State, T.J. Bamba led the way with 19 points and five assists.
The Cougars shot 11-for-23 (48%) from three-point range on the day. But Oregon dominated inside and outscored Washington State 42-18 in the paint.
How it happened
The Ducks raced out to a commanding lead early in the afternoon thanks in large part to their defensive intensity.
After trading buckets with the Cougars throughout the opening five minutes, Oregon uncorked a 14-6 run that began with a Kel’el Ware three at the 15:16 mark and ended with the Ducks possessing a 25-12 lead with 7:44 left in the half.
Oregon stretched its lead as far as 19 points in the first half and appeared set to close out the game before halftime.
But the Cougars, who were also playing with their proverbial postseason lives on the line, surged to life in the final minutes of the half.
Washington State ended the opening half on a 10-0 run that cut Oregon’s lead to 38-30.
After the break, the Cougars wasted no time. Gueye got a bucket on Washington State’s first possession to make it a six-point game.
But Oregon responded with a much-needed three from Rivaldo Soares to end its scoring drought and regain some momentum.
However, the Ducks could never find a way to create any separation during the second half, and Washington State slowly but surely took hold of the game.
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With just over nine minutes to go, T.J. Bamba’s three gave Washington State a 58-57 lead. After an Oregon miss, Bamba followed with another basket to make it a three-point game.
The Ducks refused to go away quietly and battled for a few tough baskets to stay in contention. Keeshawn Barthelemy buried a three with 7:01 left to cut the Washington State lead to 62-61. Two minutes later, Will Richardson made his first field goal of the game to give Oregon a 65-64 advantage.
With 4:05 to go, Barthelemy stepped up and buried another clutch three for the Ducks to tie the game at 68-68 apiece.
Washington State responded with a dunk from Gueye, but Barthelemy rose to the occasion once again for Oregon with a driving layup to make it 70-70 with 3:04 remaining.
Oregon took control of the game for good when Dante converted a second-chance layup to make it 72-70.
Soares closed it out on Oregon’s final possession by burying two free throws to give the game its final score.
What’s next
The Ducks will have an opportunity to notch a major resume-boosting win on Friday when it faces UCLA at 6 p.m. PT at T-Mobile Arena.
The Bruins, who landed at No. 2 in the latest AP Poll, were the Pac-12 regular season champions and dealt Oregon a pair of lopsided losses earlier in the year.
