Thursday, March 12
Las Vegas, Nev.
6:10 PM
University of Oregon
24-8
93
vs
85
Colorado (Quarterfinal)
15-17
1
2
F
Colorado
37
48
85
Oregon
34
59
93
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks Beat Buffs In Pac-12 Quarters To Survive And Advance
03/13/15 | Men's Basketball
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
LAS VEGAS — Overcoming a perhaps predictable slow start, the Oregon men's basketball team beat Colorado, 93-85, on Thursday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and advanced to Friday's semifinals.
How It Happened: With the Ducks coming off a weeklong layoff and Colorado having played Wednesday, the Buffs were sharper out of the gate and led by as much as 11 in the early going, 29-18 Oregon missed its first eight three-pointers, until Jalil Abdul-Bassit and Joseph Young hit back-to-back threes that tied it, 31-31. Another Abdul-Bassit three gave the Ducks their first lead, 34-33, though Colorado went into halftime up 37-34.
By the second half, the Ducks had found their legs. Abdul-Bassit hit another three on the opening possession for a 37-37 tie. It was tied again a few minutes later, 46-46, when Oregon put the hammer down. Casey Benson took it to the hoop to put the Ducks up for good, 48-46. Oregon then scored three times in 48 seconds on a Young jumper, his steal and dunk and a Benson steal to set up a Dwayne Benjamin dunk. It was 54-46 at that point, an 8-0 run that eventually became 16-1 as Oregon built a 62-47 advantage.
Benson's tiebreaking basket when it was 46-46 began a 13-of-14 shooting stretch by the Ducks, including the last nine in a row as they built their lead to 74-56. From there Colorado mounted a furious rally, closing within 80-76 with 2:16 to play. But as was the case in the regular-season finale a week earlier at Oregon State, Oregon made its free throws down the stretch and held off a game opponent.
Who Stood Out: The Ducks brought just three players to Las Vegas who had meaningful Pac-12 Tournament experience, but that trio of veterans led the way against the Buffaloes. Young shook off a slow start to score a game-high 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Elgin Cook continued his strong second half of the season with 20 points, and Abdul-Bassit finished with 15. With Jordan Bell limited by foul trouble, Benjamin played significant minutes down low and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 12 points. Dillon Brooks also grabbed eight boards.
What It Means: Oregon conference tournament stay was extended for one more day, and the Ducks' NCAA Tournament chances got yet another boost. The Ducks won their first game at the conference tournament for the third year in a row, and improved to 9-6 all-time in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
Odds and Ends: Young reached 1,287 points since arriving at Oregon, breaking Terrell Brandon's school record for points in a two-season span (1,263). Young's 644 points this season are fourth on the UO single-season list, and his 230 field goals are tied for fifth… The Ducks went small to open the game, starting Benjamin in place of Bell. … Oregon's players and coaches wore patches bearing the initials "DF" in memory of former UO President Dave Frohnmayer, who passed away Monday. … The UO football staff attended the game, with Mark Helfrich sitting behind the Oregon bench alongside athletic director Rob Mullens and Nike design guru Tinker Hatfield. Former AD Pat Kilkenny sat behind Helfrich.
Up Next: The Ducks will face the winner of Thursday's late game between Utah and Stanford on Friday at 8:45 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Editor, GoDucks.com
LAS VEGAS — Overcoming a perhaps predictable slow start, the Oregon men's basketball team beat Colorado, 93-85, on Thursday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and advanced to Friday's semifinals.
How It Happened: With the Ducks coming off a weeklong layoff and Colorado having played Wednesday, the Buffs were sharper out of the gate and led by as much as 11 in the early going, 29-18 Oregon missed its first eight three-pointers, until Jalil Abdul-Bassit and Joseph Young hit back-to-back threes that tied it, 31-31. Another Abdul-Bassit three gave the Ducks their first lead, 34-33, though Colorado went into halftime up 37-34.
By the second half, the Ducks had found their legs. Abdul-Bassit hit another three on the opening possession for a 37-37 tie. It was tied again a few minutes later, 46-46, when Oregon put the hammer down. Casey Benson took it to the hoop to put the Ducks up for good, 48-46. Oregon then scored three times in 48 seconds on a Young jumper, his steal and dunk and a Benson steal to set up a Dwayne Benjamin dunk. It was 54-46 at that point, an 8-0 run that eventually became 16-1 as Oregon built a 62-47 advantage.
Benson's tiebreaking basket when it was 46-46 began a 13-of-14 shooting stretch by the Ducks, including the last nine in a row as they built their lead to 74-56. From there Colorado mounted a furious rally, closing within 80-76 with 2:16 to play. But as was the case in the regular-season finale a week earlier at Oregon State, Oregon made its free throws down the stretch and held off a game opponent.
Who Stood Out: The Ducks brought just three players to Las Vegas who had meaningful Pac-12 Tournament experience, but that trio of veterans led the way against the Buffaloes. Young shook off a slow start to score a game-high 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Elgin Cook continued his strong second half of the season with 20 points, and Abdul-Bassit finished with 15. With Jordan Bell limited by foul trouble, Benjamin played significant minutes down low and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 12 points. Dillon Brooks also grabbed eight boards.
What It Means: Oregon conference tournament stay was extended for one more day, and the Ducks' NCAA Tournament chances got yet another boost. The Ducks won their first game at the conference tournament for the third year in a row, and improved to 9-6 all-time in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
Odds and Ends: Young reached 1,287 points since arriving at Oregon, breaking Terrell Brandon's school record for points in a two-season span (1,263). Young's 644 points this season are fourth on the UO single-season list, and his 230 field goals are tied for fifth… The Ducks went small to open the game, starting Benjamin in place of Bell. … Oregon's players and coaches wore patches bearing the initials "DF" in memory of former UO President Dave Frohnmayer, who passed away Monday. … The UO football staff attended the game, with Mark Helfrich sitting behind the Oregon bench alongside athletic director Rob Mullens and Nike design guru Tinker Hatfield. Former AD Pat Kilkenny sat behind Helfrich.
Up Next: The Ducks will face the winner of Thursday's late game between Utah and Stanford on Friday at 8:45 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Team Stats
CU
UO
FG%
.470
.532
3FG%
.304
.316
FT%
.696
.808
RB
38
35
TO
13
8
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
12
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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