No. 8 Oregon Beats Washington 83-77 In Pac-12 Quarterfinals

The eighth-ranked Oregon Ducks withstood Washington’s early strength and a late flurry of points to defeat the Huskies 83-77 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas on Thursday.

No. 8 Oregon Beats Washington 83-77 In Pac-12 Quarterfinals

Chris Boucher led the Ducks with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “We knew they were going to try to get up in our space and deny us,” said Oregon’s Elgin Cook, who also had 19 points. “We were all sped up at first, and I just wanted to tell everybody to calm down and keep their composure.”

The Ducks (26-6) got off to a slow start, but built an 11-point lead midway through the second half. Andrew Andrews helped the Huskies come back, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the span of just a few minutes to help Washington (18-14) pull within two late. Andrews hit a pair of 3-pointers and turned a steal into a pair of free throws that cut Oregon’s lead to 71-69 with 5 minutes left. Oregon also held on by scoring four free throws in the final 33 seconds.

Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks added 17 and 15 points for the Ducks respectively. Oregon had a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

“We had bad turnovers today. We didn’t make very good decisions. We’ll have to clean that up,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “But our effort on the boards, I think, was the difference in the game. We were able to make just enough plays to get by.”

The Huskies’ chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament bracket. Marques Chriss led Washington with 19 points.

Oregon finished the regular season strong, winning their last five games to earn their first conference title since 2002. The Ducks previously defeated the Huskies 86-73 on Feb. 28. Cook scored 26 points.

On Thursday night, after an aggressive start by Washington, the Ducks settled down and came back, forcing the Huskies into difficult shots, scoring in transition after turnovers and misses during an 11-0 run that helped them gain a 39-38 halftime.  

The Ducks gained a little separation about halfway through, after Dorsey scored a three and Dwayne Benjamin scored on a three-point play to put Oregon up 64-54.

“To look at this season as a failure would be kind of dumb on our part,” Andrews said. “So you just take everything and learn from it. We had an incredible season. I said, we beat all the odds as far as what the media thought and what the coaches poll thought. So I couldn’t be prouder of the guys in this locker room.”

Oregon will now face No. 15 Arizona in Friday night’s semifinals. The Arizona Wildcats (25-7) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 82-78 in Las Vegas on Thursday. Washington will likely now head to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) held in New York on March 29 and 31.

Caption: LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 10: Elgin Cook #23 of the Oregon Ducks is guarded by Malik Dime #10 of the Washington Huskies during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 10, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 83-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena