Oregon Ducks Basketball

There was no stopping Oregon's Tyler Dorsey from pulling up for a three-pointer in the dying seconds of the Ducks' second-round NCAA tournament game against Rhode Island on Sunday. 

Dorsey had the game on the line with the ball in his hands, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. With a little space behind the three-point line, Dorsey pulled the trigger and put the Ducks ahead 75-72.

Rhode Island, a No. 11 seed, nearly pulled off the upset but fell short. Oregon, a No. 3 seed, advances to the Sweet 16, where Michigan, a No. 7, awaits. 

Life without Chris Boucher hasn't affected Oregon just yet, at least on the offensive end.

The No. 3-seeded Ducks kicked off their NCAA tournament with a 93-77 win over No. 14 Iona on Friday in Sacramento.

Oregon was playing just its second game without Boucher after the star forward tore his ACL during the Pac-12 tournament. The squad lost to Arizona in the title game, and expectations were tempered heading into March Madness.

Despite some slow play in the second half to let the Gaels back into the game, the squad looked almost as good as ever in the opening win.

Tyler Dorsey continued his hot streak with 24 points, his fourth straight game with at least 20 points. Jordan Bell added 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Payton Prichard surprised with 16 points.

He finished 4-of-7 from three-point range, helping the Ducks build a big lead in the second half. One of those shots was captured by NCAA March Madness:

Payton Pritchard knocks down one of his four trifectas. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/ffblgB6LgX

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2017

Iona provided quite a fight despite a big second-half deficit, but it simply couldn't keep up with Oregon's athleticism. Seth Davis of CBS Sports and Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports noted the problem with the stylistic matchup:

The way to beat Oregon is not to try to run with them. You have to slow them down and grind. Not the Iona Way.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 17, 2017

UNCW getting slow-paced Virginia was tough. Iona running into a vastly more talented Oregon team comfortable playing fast is a nightmare.

— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) March 17, 2017

Jordan Washington almost single-handedly kept Iona competitive despite appearing to suffer a nasty injury in the first half. He finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Sam Cassell Jr. added 16 points off the bench.

The Gaels actually looked ready to pull off the shocker in the early going, outscoring the favorite 19-10. However, the Ducks took off from there, pushing the pace while getting tons of easy baskets like this one, via NCAA March Madness:

Oregon scoring at will!

Ducks lead Iona, 55-37, at the half. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/LbrOZXfKn7

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2017

Oregon's Twitter account noted just how dominant the first half was offensively:

Ducks shooting 63.6 percent (21-33) from the floor and have only committed 3 turnovers. Leading battle of the boards by 6. #GoDucks

— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) March 17, 2017

As John Canzano of The Oregonian noted, it looked as though the second half wouldn't feature much excitement either:

Oregon opening it up on Iona College now… Ducks look bored up 27 points with 18 mins to play.

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) March 17, 2017

However, Iona stormed back thanks to some hot shooting by Deyshonee Much, including this deep three-pointer, via CBS Sports:

Iona from WAY downtown! The Gaels won't go down without a fight. pic.twitter.com/r6OILM97iJ

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2017

The shooter finished 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to help cut the lead from 27 down to 13. Time simply ran out for the underdogs, who couldn't contain the Ducks on the offensive end.

Oregon will advance to the second round to take on the winner of No. 6 Creighton and No. 11 Rhode Island on Sunday.

Either the outside shooting of the Blue Jays or the athleticism of the Rams would represent a tougher challenge for the Ducks.

           

Postgame Reaction

The first game of the tournament is always difficult with nerves kicking in, but Dillon Brooks appreciated the effort.

"We handled it pretty well," he said after the game, per the team's official site. "We've seen teams can get it going, so everybody had to show up. Guys were confident, knocking down shots, and it was a great first game for everybody."

One of the players who stepped up was Payton Pritchard, who was red-hot from the outside after a quiet conference tournament.

"The Pac-12 tournament I was obviously down on myself; I didn't look for my shot much," the guard explained. "I had a great week of practice, made some shots and just tried to be ready when my number was called."

He and the rest of Oregon will hope to replicate this offensive performance in the next game on Sunday.

If Oregon is going to win the Pac-12 championship, it will have to do so without forward Chris Boucher.

The Ducks announced the senior will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn ACL in Friday's semifinal win over California, per George Schroeder of USA Today. Erik Skopil of 247Sports and Justin Hopkins of ScoopDuck.com initially reported the news.

Boucher averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Ducks as a stretch forward. He was knocking down 52.4 percent of his shots overall and 35.0 percent from deep.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the story is that Boucher continued to play after suffering the injury in the first half. He went down hard under the basket in the first half and showed signs of pain, but he played 24 effective minutes—a number that's right in line with his regular-season average (23.6). He scored 10 points and added four rebounds, as the Ducks earned a 73-65 victory.

Oregon head coach Dana Altman made no mention of the injury in his postgame press conference, and it's unclear when the Ducks knew something was amiss. They are slated to play in their third consecutive Pac-12 championship game Saturday night against Arizona.

Currently ranked as the No. 5 team in the country, Oregon may see its seeding changed due to Boucher's injury. ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently has the Ducks as a No. 2 seed, but a conference championship could have put them on the No. 1 seed line. Now the committee will have to assess how much Boucher's loss damages their case.

Kavell Bigby-Williams will likely see the most expansion in his role.

The 2017 Pac-12 tournament continued Friday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a pair of compelling semifinal matchups, with a late game between UCLA and Arizona standing out on the evening's bill. 

But before those two Pac-12 powers could hit the floor, the top-seeded Oregon Ducks and California Golden Bears shined in the spotlight with a place in the conference final on the line. 

Below, you'll find a rundown of the evening's scores as well as an updated schedule with the Pac-12 proceedings slated to come to a close Saturday night. 

Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 5 California	Oregon 73, California 65
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 3 UCLA	Arizona 86, UCLA 75

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Saturday, March 11	Oregon vs. Arizona	11 p.m.	ESPN

Oregon 73, California 65

The Golden Bears dropped both regular-season contests against the Ducks, but the third time was not a charm for Cuonzo Martin's squad. 

Although the Golden Bears lingered within striking distance all game long, they couldn't deliver a haymaker and slip past the tournament's No. 1 seed. 

One big reason was Cal's inability to get anything going inside the arc. 

While the Golden Bears knocked down 8-of-15 attempts from three, they shot a paltry 14-of-36 on two-point looks and missed eight free throws. 

Against a Ducks team that featured four double-figure scorers, those shortcomings were simply too significant. 

Tyler Dorsey paced Oregon's victorious effort with 23 points, while Dylan Ennis dropped 16 points. Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher also got in on the action and scored 10 points apiece. 

Currently the fifth-ranked team in the nation, the Ducks could have a shot at snagging a No. 1 seed if they enter Selection Sunday with a Pac-12 title in tow. 

Arizona 86, UCLA 75

The Bruins got the best of the Wildcats on Feb. 25, but that wasn't the case Friday night in Sin City. 

With a berth in the Pac-12 title game on the line, Arizona showed up with a complete effort and trounced UCLA 86-75 to set up a date with Oregon on Saturday night. 

Lauri Markkanen shined in the win and finished with 29 points (10-of-22 shooting, 4-of-10 from three) and six rebounds. 

However, he wasn't the lone Wildcat who basked in the spotlight. 

Allonzo Trier was also locked in, and he thrived to the tune of 20 points, four boards and four dimes as Arizona's well-rounded offense proved to be too much for UCLA's flimsy defense. 

Speaking of the Bruins, Lonzo Ball was in a noticeable funk all night. All told, Ball mustered eight points and six assists while committing four turnovers as Isaac Hamilton (20 points) and T.J. Leaf (15 points) did the heavy lifting. 

The Wildcats will now prep for the Ducks, who throttled them by 27 points on Feb. 4. 

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/834617178628489216

Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks may soon be playing in the NBA, but he showed Wednesday night he isn't yet finished terrorizing Pac-12 opponents.    

No. 6 Oregon and the California Golden Bears were tied at 65 with under 10 seconds left to play in the contest at Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion when the visitors began their final possession of the evening.

Brooks ultimately dribbled the ball across midcourt, created an opportunity for himself beyond the three-point line and drained a shot with one second remaining to clinch the victory for what may be a top seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.     

With highlight-reel dunks and buzzer-beater shots in his repertoire, Brooks may prove to be must-see TV this March. 

[Twitter]

Dillon Brooks is dunking on EVERYONE. pic.twitter.com/ylLdnRLIPq

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 17, 2017

Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks may posterize the entire Pac-12 before the end of the season at this rate. 

With less than eight minutes to play in Thursday's game versus the Utah Utes at Matthew Knight Arena, Brooks dribbled past a defender and charged the bucket with menace in his heart.

Utah's David Collette was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he tried to stop Brooks, and he found himself on the receiving end of a powerful one-handed dunk. 

You may recall it was only a week ago when Brooks put the UCLA Bruins' Ike Anigbogu on a poster. Beware, future Oregon opponents, because you may be next on his list. 

[Twitter]

Electricity creates a buzz. New uniforms create hype. @OregonMBB's Electric Green uniforms vs. Utah do both. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/fAulNGgYxN

— GoDucks (@GoDucks) February 16, 2017

If the lights go out at Matthew Knight Arena, the Oregon Ducks are covered.

The basketball team will don new uniforms during Thursday night's home game against the Utah Utes. The school's official athletics Twitter account provided a closer look at the sleek design:

The football program teased glow-in the-dark uniforms before the 2015 season, so it's not surprising to see Oregon and Nike trot out the unconventional function. It's still not practical, though.

Is there a reason for uniforms to glow in the dark? Of course not. Yet even in the light of day, these "Electric Green" jerseys look good.

[University of Oregon Athletics]

DILLON BROOKS!

He got UP for the big poster slam!

(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/UqMU9gux5w

— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) February 10, 2017

Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks showed little regard for the hoop or for the UCLA Bruins' Ike Anigbogu in the first half of Thursday's game at Pauley Pavilion. 

Seven minutes into the opening frame, Brooks picked up quite a bit of steam as he approached the rim for a dunk. Anigbogu left his feet to make a play on the ball, but the Bruins forward only got posterized for his troubles. 

Brooks can be a menace for opponents when he isn't trying to buy a call with a ridiculous flop. 

[Twitter]

Oregon has reasserted itself as the team to beat in the Pac-12 Conference, a distinction first gained a year ago when it swept the regular-season and conference tournament titles. But as impressive as Saturday's 85-58 home win over Arizona was, it doesn't mean this Ducks team is as good as the one that reached the Elite Eight last March.

It shows Oregon is capable of being just as good if things go its way and the conditions are right. But since the win came immediately after their two worst efforts in Pac-12 play, the jury may still be out on the Ducks.

Everything went 13th-ranked Oregon's way Saturday, starting with a friendly no-call from the officiating crew after students tossed powder into the air and onto the court at Matthew Knight Arena—leading to a lengthy delay to clean the playing surface that could have warranted a technical foul.

The Ducks' good fortune continued each time No. 5 Arizona forgot to cover their perimeter shooters. They capitalized on those openings by making an arena-record 16 threes on 25 tries, including 10 in the first half in building a 20-point lead.

Oregon (21-3, 10-1) shot 65.2 percent overall, its best rate of the season and highest accuracy since making 65.3 percent of its shots against Western Carolina in November 2013. And it came against an Arizona team that entered the contest allowing 40.1 percent shooting and 62.7 points per game while riding a 15-game winning streak.

The Ducks' defensive effort was among its best of the year, too, as they held Arizona to 42.6 percent shooting—though it didn't hurt that the Wildcats guards committed 13 turnovers on mostly unforced errors.

It's just one game, yeah. But this performance shows why this Oregon team could win it. All of it.

— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) February 4, 2017

A win like this instantly bumps Oregon up the list of national title contenders—especially on a day when Top 10 schools Baylor, Kansas and West Virginia all lost at home to unranked opponents—right? Sure, if the Ducks play all their remaining games in Eugene and against top competition, neither of which will be the case.

Saturday's victory was Oregon's 40th in a row at home, now the nation's longest active home-court winning streak after Kansas' loss to Iowa State ended its 54-game run. In that span, the Ducks have four victories in Eugene against ranked teams, two of which include knocking off consecutive unbeaten foes UCLA and USC to start Pac-12 play in late December. Only a handful of wins during the streak were by single digits.

One of those occurred Thursday in a 71-70 victory against struggling Arizona State, where Oregon shot 43.9 percent and made eight of 23 threes against the Pac-12's worst defensive team. Sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey, who was 6-of-6 from three on Saturday en route to 23 points, made just one of five shots against the Sun Devils as part of a 6-of-30 slump from deep for the Ducks' most prolific perimeter shooter.

That sluggish performance could have been attributed to their looking ahead to Arizona (21-3, 10-1), if it hadn't come five days after the Ducks' lone Pac-12 loss (Jan. 28 at Colorado). The Buffaloes were 1-7 in the league—having beaten winless Oregon State just before that to get off the schneid—but held Oregon to 38.6 percent shooting. That was its worst effort since late November when junior wing Dillon Brooks was still getting up to speed following offseason foot surgery.

That two-game stretch prior to the blowout of Arizona is just as telling as the rout itself because it raises questions about how good (or bad) Oregon is.

Tied with the Wildcats for first place in the conference, and owners to some of the best in-league wins so far—as well as the worst conference loss on record—the Ducks have the next four weeks to determine the direction they are headed in.

And it won't be an easy road. Though Saturday was their lone regular-season meeting with the Wildcats, they still must play five times away from home—starting with the upcoming trip to UCLA and USC, which begins Thursday. They end Pac-12 play with a three-game trip that includes a visit to California, which has won 32 of its last 34 at home.

https://twitter.com/ChrisDobbertean/status/828008730507804673

Oregon's only remaining home games are against Colorado and a Utah team it narrowly edged on the road on Jan. 26, despite shooting 5-of-18 from three.

A 36.2 percent three-point shooting team overall, Oregon has five games with at least 11 made threes on 44.0 percent accuracy, but also six where it's shot less than 30 percent and drained five or fewer. The Ducks lead the nation in blocked shots with 176, including seven against Arizona, yet they've been out-rebounded eight times and allowed 10 or more offensive boards on 10 occasions.

What we saw Saturday is the Ducks at their best, but not necessarily their standard—making it hard to pinpoint just how good they are. If Oregon fares well outside of its friendly confines and avoids letdowns against lesser opponents, it will paint a clearer picture of its ceiling.

        

All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

Sending a loud statement to the rest of the Pac-12, the No. 13 Oregon Ducks steamrolled the No. 5 Arizona Wildcats 85-58 on Saturday to improve to 21-3 overall and 10-1 in conference play.

What seemed like one of the best matchups of the college basketball season turned out to be a one-sided destruction.

After Arizona got a basket from Lauri Markkanen that cut its deficit to 19-11 with 11:31 remaining in the first half, the Wildcats went ice-cold with no made field goals for the next nine minutes.

Oregon, meanwhile, took advantage with a 19-0 run that extended its lead to 38-11 before Markkanen finally stopped the bleeding with two field goals. The Ducks went 10-of-14 from three-point range in the first half.

ESPN College Basketball put Oregon's shooting touch in the opening 20 minutes into perspective:

Oregon has made 10 3s.

Arizona has 11 points.



— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 4, 2017

ESPN's Jay Bilas summed up what happened in the only way he could:

Holy cow! Oregon is shooting lights out!! Wow!

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) February 4, 2017

Elegant and complex analysis can be fun, but as Bilas showed, sometimes just saying things as they are is good enough.

This was a stunning display by Arizona, which came into the huge Pac-12 showdown riding a 15-game winning streak and was 10-0 in conference play.

Defense has been the Wildcats' calling card all year. They entered play ranked 16th nationally with 62.7 points allowed per game. Oregon surpassed that point total with more than 11 minutes remaining in the second half.

Two players caused most of the problems: Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey. That duo combined for 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting. The rest of Oregon's roster had 44 points on 16-of-27 shooting.

The Wildcats couldn't get their shots going, and Oregon's attacking defense kept them off-balance throughout the game. They shot 42.6 percent overall (5-of-17 from three-point range).

As Tyson Alger of The Oregonian noted, Arizona wasn't even able to take advantage when Brooks wasn't on the court:

Dillon Brooks has been on the bench for seven minutes and the Ducks lead by 23 points.

— Tyson Alger (@tysonalger) February 4, 2017

Ken Goe of The Oregonian had never seen such a performance from Arizona before:

I've seen a lot of Arizona games in 40 years in the biz, and never seen the Wildcats taken apart the way Oregon is taking them apart now

— Ken Goe (@KenGoe) February 4, 2017

It was especially surprising considering how well Arizona had been playing. At 21-2 coming into Saturday's game, the Wildcats were on the short list of the best teams in the nation and had already defeated the other Pac-12 power, UCLA, two weeks ago.

Arizona head coach Sean Miller kept trying to find ways to stop the bleeding for his team, per Alger:

How's this game going? Sean Miller just used his final timeout with 13 minutes to play.

— Tyson Alger (@tysonalger) February 4, 2017

On the bright side, with Miller out of timeouts, it was impossible for him to prolong the inevitable outcome. He can just turn the page and get his team ready for Stanford on Wednesday.

This was the performance Oregon needed, especially after an ugly loss to Colorado last week and a narrow victory over Arizona State on Thursday, and it gives the team necessary momentum with a road game at UCLA on tap Thursday.

Postgame Reaction

Oregon head coach Dana Altman didn't try to come up with any fancy explanation for his team's hot-shooting ways. 

"Today was a day where the ball just went in," he said, per Kristen Rodgers of KEZI 9. 

One thing Altman did address was what he told the Ducks before the game about the importance of winning as it pertains to winning a Pac-12 title. 

"I told the fellas today, we had to win today or it was over," Altman said, per Matt Prehm of 247Sports.

Brooks, who was coming off a 27-point game against Arizona State, believes this is a high point in his tenure at Oregon. 

"That’s the best game I ever played in three years here," Brooks said, per Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com. "Guys were focused and guys were confident in their shots."

Sean Miller, who suffered the second-worst loss of his career as Arizona head coach, is hopeful Oregon doesn't get any better than what it showed on Saturday.

"I hope for everybody's sake, that's the best they can play," he said, per Anthony Gimino of TusconNewsNow.com.