Rivaldo Soares' late-game heroics carry Oregon to dramatic road win over Oregon State

Rivaldo Soares made just two shots on Saturday — but they proved to be the two biggest buckets of the night for the Oregon Ducks.

Soares drained a three-pointer with 44 seconds to go to keep Oregon afloat against rival Oregon State, then buried a game-winning jumper with 0.6 seconds to go to lift the Ducks to a 69-67 win over the rival Beavers at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

“I wanted it in that moment,” Soares told Bill Walton on the Pac-12 postgame show following the win.

WAAALDOOO!!!!

Consecutive clutch buckets for @Waldo_ML and the Ducks lead it! #GoDucks

📺 Pac-12 Network pic.twitter.com/MydG4dc0Em

— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) February 26, 2023

With the win, Oregon (16-13, 10-8 Pac-12) completed a season sweep over the rival Beavers.

N’Faly Dante led the Ducks with 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds — 10 of which came in the second half. Jermaine Couisnard chipped in 12 points, and Keeshawn Barthelemy had 11.

Dexter Akanno led the Beavers with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

How it happened

Oregon delivered a slightly uncharacteristic performance in the first half.

Despite entering the evening as one of the worst three-point shooting squads in the Pac-12 at 31.6% on the season, the Ducks’ long-range shooting kept them afloat during the opening 20 minutes. They shot 13-of-34 (38%) from the field and 7-of-12 (58%) from downtown. Couisnard and Keeshawn Barthelemy each knocked down a pair of threes during the opening half.

Thanks to a late-half surge, the Ducks went into the break with a 35-29 lead.

They kept their foot on the gas after halftime and immediately pushed their lead to eight points when Nate Bittle drew a shooting foul on the first possession of the half and buried both free throws. Next time down the floor, Couisnard drilled his third three of the night to give the Ducks a 40-31 lead.

At that point, the Ducks had an opportunity to take control of the game. They were generating plenty of open looks, while the Beavers were relying on low-percentage jumpers to stay afloat.

But Oregon failed to capitalize. Oregon State responded with a 14-10 run and trimmed the lead to 50-45 with 10:54 left in regulation.

That sustained run from the Beavers brought the Gill Coliseum crowd to life and Oregon struggled to regain momentum. The Beavers made it a one-possession game at the 8:12 mark when Michael Rataj buried a three-pointer to cut Oregon’s lead to 54-52.

Couisnard launched an airball on the Ducks’ ensuing possession, and Oregon State snatched the lead thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Dzmitry Ryuny.

From there, the game devolved into a shootout. Quincy Guerrier canned a three to give Oregon a 58-55 lead with 6:26 to go, and Akanno responded 46 seconds later with a three of his own to tie it up.

Then, Akanno grabbed a steal in the backcourt and converted a breakaway layup to five Oregon State a 60-58 lead.

The Ducks tied the game a minute later when Dante bullied his way through the paint for a putback layup to make it 60-60.

But the Beavers responded with five unanswered points and took a 65-60 lead on Rodrigue Andela’s jumper with 2:10 to go.

Oregon roared back with a 7-2 run of its own, though, and tied the game at 67-67 when Soares buried a three with just 44 seconds remaining.

On Oregon State’s next possession, Akanno missed on a layup, and Soares grabbed the rebound to set the stage for a go-ahead basket.

Will Richardson initiated the Ducks’ offense at the top of the key and tried to use a screen from Dante to get past his defender. But the Beavers did a good job of hedging the screen, and neither Richardson nor Dante were left with an open look.

So, Richardson opted to dish the ball to ball to Soares, who took one dribble, pulled up, and buried the biggest shot of his life.