Thursday, March 9
Las Vegas, Nev.
12:00 PM
University of Oregon
27-4
80
vs
57
Arizona State
15-17
1
2
F
Arizona State
31
26
57
Oregon
34
46
80
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Fresh Legs Fuel Ducks In Quarterfinals
03/09/17 | Men's Basketball
Oregon opened up a lead after halftime and turned it into a rout down the stretch Thursday against Arizona State.
LAS VEGAS — Oregon's fresh legs were apparent down the stretch Thursday in the Ducks' Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal victory over Arizona State, as the UO men opened up a lead after halftime and pulled away down the stretch to win, 80-57. The fifth-ranked and top-seeded Ducks moved on to play Friday evening against the winner of Thursday's second quarterfinal between Utah and California.
How It Happened: The Ducks (28-4) led 34-31 at halftime after a back-and-forth first 20 minutes. They used a 10-0 run just after halftime to go up 46-33 on the Sun Devils — who needed overtime to beat Stanford in the first round Wednesday — and blew it open with a 20-3 run in the final minutes of the game.
Oregon's defense fueled the big start to the second half, as ASU went 7:41 without a made field goal after scoring on its opening possession after halftime. The Ducks led by just three after that basket, 36-33, but then scored 10 straight and were up 54-38 before the Sun Devils made another basket. Torian Graham then scored 14 in a row for ASU, completing a four-point play to cut Oregon's lead to 60-52. But the Ducks answered with their game-clinching 20-3 run down the stretch and ASU couldn't respond.
The opening half featured 13 lead changes and three ties, as ASU carried over some rhythm from playing Wednesday and Oregon perhaps showed the effects of a longer layoff. The Ducks scored eight straight to take an early 8-3 lead, but Graham scored ASU's next nine on a trio of three-pointers, setting the tone for a competitive half.
Who Stood Out: Dillon Brooks scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Tyler Dorsey made a concerted effort to get the rim, scoring 21 and adding a career-high-tying nine rebounds. Dylan Ennis provided a well-rounded effort with seven points, a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists.
What It Means: The Ducks have won at least one conference tournament game for the fifth straight year, and the 12th time in the last 15 years.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, UO coach
On the difference in the game
"Our defensive effort to start the second half was pretty good. Our defensive energy was pretty good. They did get a couple good looks, but mostly they were pretty contested shots. And we were able to limit them to one shot, so we were able to get a little burst there. "
On Dorsey's 21-point effort
"The thing that sticks out to me is the nine rebounds. Any time a player gets involved in the game like that, regardless of how he's shooting the ball, he just feels really good about what he's doing. If a guy's guarding well and hitting the boards, that gets his energy going. Tyler having nine boards today and Dylan getting 12, I thought, was a big, big plus for us. I've been on those two guys about getting to the boards more, because if we're going to play a three-guard lineup — which we have consistently — and sometimes four guards, they've really got to get themselves on the boards."
Bobby Hurley, ASU coach
On his team's effort
"These guys played so well yesterday and competed hard. Today we played a great basketball team — a great defensive basketball team — and we didn't play as well as we needed to offensively. … We just hit a wall, in terms of fatigue or just the wear from yesterday's game. Just didn't have the same pop in the second half. And our defense didn't help. But they're an elite team and have the type of defense that's going to keep them in games as they play championship-level basketball."
Notable: Brooks reached 1,501 points for his career, the 13th player and second junior in UO history to reach 1,500. He passed Kenya Wilkins (1,488, 1993-97) into 13th on the UO career scoring list. … Ennis' previous career high of 10 rebounds came in 2012 while he was at Rice. … Graham scored 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting for Arizona State, but the other Sun Devil starters combined for just 21 points on 5-of-33 shooting.
Up Next: The Ducks play either Utah or California in Friday's first semifinal (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
How It Happened: The Ducks (28-4) led 34-31 at halftime after a back-and-forth first 20 minutes. They used a 10-0 run just after halftime to go up 46-33 on the Sun Devils — who needed overtime to beat Stanford in the first round Wednesday — and blew it open with a 20-3 run in the final minutes of the game.
Oregon's defense fueled the big start to the second half, as ASU went 7:41 without a made field goal after scoring on its opening possession after halftime. The Ducks led by just three after that basket, 36-33, but then scored 10 straight and were up 54-38 before the Sun Devils made another basket. Torian Graham then scored 14 in a row for ASU, completing a four-point play to cut Oregon's lead to 60-52. But the Ducks answered with their game-clinching 20-3 run down the stretch and ASU couldn't respond.
The opening half featured 13 lead changes and three ties, as ASU carried over some rhythm from playing Wednesday and Oregon perhaps showed the effects of a longer layoff. The Ducks scored eight straight to take an early 8-3 lead, but Graham scored ASU's next nine on a trio of three-pointers, setting the tone for a competitive half.
Who Stood Out: Dillon Brooks scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Tyler Dorsey made a concerted effort to get the rim, scoring 21 and adding a career-high-tying nine rebounds. Dylan Ennis provided a well-rounded effort with seven points, a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists.
What It Means: The Ducks have won at least one conference tournament game for the fifth straight year, and the 12th time in the last 15 years.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, UO coach
On the difference in the game
"Our defensive effort to start the second half was pretty good. Our defensive energy was pretty good. They did get a couple good looks, but mostly they were pretty contested shots. And we were able to limit them to one shot, so we were able to get a little burst there. "
On Dorsey's 21-point effort
"The thing that sticks out to me is the nine rebounds. Any time a player gets involved in the game like that, regardless of how he's shooting the ball, he just feels really good about what he's doing. If a guy's guarding well and hitting the boards, that gets his energy going. Tyler having nine boards today and Dylan getting 12, I thought, was a big, big plus for us. I've been on those two guys about getting to the boards more, because if we're going to play a three-guard lineup — which we have consistently — and sometimes four guards, they've really got to get themselves on the boards."
Bobby Hurley, ASU coach
On his team's effort
"These guys played so well yesterday and competed hard. Today we played a great basketball team — a great defensive basketball team — and we didn't play as well as we needed to offensively. … We just hit a wall, in terms of fatigue or just the wear from yesterday's game. Just didn't have the same pop in the second half. And our defense didn't help. But they're an elite team and have the type of defense that's going to keep them in games as they play championship-level basketball."
Notable: Brooks reached 1,501 points for his career, the 13th player and second junior in UO history to reach 1,500. He passed Kenya Wilkins (1,488, 1993-97) into 13th on the UO career scoring list. … Ennis' previous career high of 10 rebounds came in 2012 while he was at Rice. … Graham scored 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting for Arizona State, but the other Sun Devil starters combined for just 21 points on 5-of-33 shooting.
Up Next: The Ducks play either Utah or California in Friday's first semifinal (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Team Stats
ASU
ORE
FG%
.311
.492
3FG%
.310
.333
FT%
.833
.632
RB
29
48
TO
7
7
STL
1
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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