Ducks Overcome Loss Of Brooks For 15th Straight

Thursday, January 19

Eugene, Ore.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

17-2, 6-0

California

13-6, 4-3

California

Oregon

01/19/17 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Oregon-Cal Box Score Oregon Ducks Season Stats

No. 11 Oregon beat California 86-63 on Thursday, tying the school-record win streak despite an injury to Dillon Brooks in the first half.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 11 Oregon men tied a 104-year-old school record with their 15th consecutive victory Thursday night, an 86-63 win over Cal before 10,010 in Matthew Knight Arena that came despite the loss of preseason all-American Dillon Brooks to injury late in the first half.

How It Happened: The Ducks (17-2, 6-0 Pac-12) made nine three-pointers in the first half for a 44-30 lead at the break, then saw Jordan Bell go 7-of-7 from the floor in the second half to extend the lead. Brooks wasn't even on the bench after halftime due to a lower left leg injury, but that was offset by Oregon's ability to contain Cal star Ivan Raab, who missed his first eight shots and finished with just four points.

Casey Benson came off the bench to make four three-pointers in the first half, the last of which put the Ducks up 28-17. A Roman Sorkin three-pointer made it 33-19, and the UO men went into halftime with the lead still at 14.

Cal (13-6, 4-3) got within 44-36 early in the second half, as the Ducks appeared out of sorts in the absence of Brooks. But Tyler Dorsey hit a three-pointer to get the home team going, and Oregon led by double digits the rest of the way.

Who Stood Out: Bell scored a career-high 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting, adding six rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Dorsey added 16 points with a career-high six assists, and Benson made all five of his three-point attempts for a career-high 15 points. Brooks had 10 points before his injury; UO coach Dana Altman said afterward Brooks' status will be evaluated in the next 48 hours to determine his status going forward.

What It Means: The school-record win streak was an historic achievement, but the concern going forward regarding the status of Brooks will temper Oregon's enthusiasm.

Quotable:
Dana Altman, head coach
On how the Ducks opened up a lead
"With the threes we got a little momentum going there in the first half. We played pretty well."

Tyler Dorsey, sophomore guard
On playing the second half without Brooks
"People had to step up. When players go down like Dillon Brooks people have to step up, and that's what we did tonight — on the defensive end and the offensive end."

Casey Benson, junior guard
On tying the school-record win streak
"It's nice to be part of something like that, all the hard work paying off. We know we've got a lot of room to get better, but it's definitely a nice feeling."

Notable: The Ducks won despite allowing Cal — the Pac-12's top rebounding team — to win 34-25 on the boards and score 15 second-chance points. … Brooks reached 1,262 points for his career, putting him 20th in the UO record book. He passed Maarty Leunen (1,259, 2004-08) and Elgin Cook (1,259, 2013-15) during Thursday's game. … Dorsey scored the final two points of the first half, making his first field goal since hitting eight three-pointers at Washington on Jan. 4. … The Ducks tied the 15-game win streak the program first achieved between Feb. 14, 1912 and Jan. 31, 1913. ... Bell set a Matthew Knight Arena record by shooting 91.7 percent from the field (11-of-12). ... The win guaranteed the Ducks their seventh consecutive winning season, something that hasn't happened at Oregon in 77 years. ... The win also gave Altman his 20th consecutive winning season as a head coach. ... The other five active coaches in that club are Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Bill Self and Tom Izzo.

Up Next: The Ducks host Stanford on Saturday (3 p.m., Pac-12 Network).