University of Oregon
10-3
UC Irvine
6-6
Ducks Grind Out Another Overtime Win, 69-67 over UC Irvine
12/30/14 | Men's Basketball
Eugene, Ore. – Dwayne Benjamin hit a 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and the Ducks prevailed in the extra period 69-67 over UC Irvine Monday night at Matthew Knight Arena. Benjamin finished with a career-high 18 points, and UO earned the win in their second-straight overtime game.
How It Happened: The Ducks (10-3) jumped out to a 9-2 lead to begin the game behind quick starts from Benjamin and Joseph Young. The Anteaters (6-6) clawed their way back into to the game and took a 17-16 lead at the 7:20 mark in the first half. The visitors finished the half on a 9-0 run and built a 33-26 lead going into the break.
The UC Irvine lead grew to 11 (37-26) before UO began their second half push. A layup by Benjamin with 14:37 remaining in the second half capped off a 12-4 Duck run that shrunk the Anteater lead to just three. Oregon gradually began to solve the visitors' 2-3 zone throughout the next 10 minutes, but the Ducks were still down 55-50 with 3:28 left in the game.
Benjamin made his first three at the 2:31 mark to cut the UC Irvine lead to 55-53, and an Elgin Cook free throw less than a minute later cut the Anteater lead to just one. Just as the Ducks were poised to take the lead, Travis Souza nailed a pull-up jumper with 26 seconds left to give UC Irvine the 57-54 lead.
Forced to either score the quick two or look for an open three, Benjamin found himself an opportunity with the latter and drilled a corner three to make it a tie ball game at 57-57 with seven seconds to spare. The Anteaters' desperation three came up short, and the game moved to overtime.
The Ducks got off to a solid start in the extra time and led 64-59 with 3:32 remaining, but the Anteaters battled back and tied the game at 64-64 with just 1:37 left.
Cook made 1-of-2 free throws to give UO a one-point lead (65-64) at the 1:15 mark, and Oregon made a stop on the other end to get the ball back with 30 seconds to play.
Coming out of the timeout, Joseph Young came off two baseline screens and received a dribble handoff from Casey Benson just beyond the 3-point line. The senior rose up and canned the 3-pointer to give the Ducks 68-64 lead with 23 seconds remaining. Souza made a 3-pointer to draw the Anteaters within one, but the Ducks survived and escaped their last non-conference game with a 69-67 win.
Who Stood Out: Benjamin had a career-high 18 points (8-of-14 from the field) to lead the Ducks, and Cook and Jordan Bell led the rebounding effort with eight a piece. Cook had arguably the most well-rounded stat line for any UO player: 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a career-high four steals.
What It Means: Oregon wraps up their non-conference slate with a 10-3 record. Two of the Ducks' three losses came to opponents ranked in the top-25.
Quotable: Head coach Dana Altman on finishing the non-conference schedule at 10-3...
“I didn't know where we would be, I really didn't. We have a lot of new faces. I thought our schedule was going to be really demanding. So I'm proud our guys found some ways to win some ball games, disappointed in our consistency.”
Notes: Oregon has now won eight straight overtime games, dating back to a triple-overtime loss at UTEP on Dec. 19, 2012 (91-84)... Jordan Bell continues to move up the UO single season blocks list. With four tonight, he moved into second, just 13 games into the 2014-15 season, with 43. He passed Blair Rasmussen (42/1984), Bob Fife (41/1991) and Tony Woods (40/2013) during Monday's game... The 26 first half points were the lowest by Oregon this season. The previous low was 27 against both Michigan and VCU.
