Oregon eked out a 60-56 win over Colorado at Matthew Knight Arena Thursday Night giving Oregon a marque win come tournament time. While the Ducks were outrebounded 43-29, worse than when they lost to Colorado, forcing Colorado into 17 turnovers made the difference. Chris Duarte led the way for the Ducks with 18 points and was massive when the Ducks were starved on offense, being the only Duck to score between the 10 and two-minute mark of the second half. D’Shawn Schwartz put up a team-high 16 on 6-13 shooting but the Duck’s ability to shut down star guard McKinley Wright for most of the game proved pivotal.

The star of the first half was the rim. Both teams struggled to make their shots and the Ducks had just 10 made shots, only 2 more made field-goals than turnovers. Dana Altman yelled at his squad to keep it simple but Oregon was never able to grab a lead in the first 20 minutes from Colorado but kept it a close 30-25 at the break. Both teams had their shooting woes, especially from behind the arc, a combined 6-26 from downtown, and 22-59 from the field. Rebounding issues persisted for the Ducks in the first half as well as getting beat 21-16 on the glass by the massive Colorado frontcourt. The Ducks did contain PAC-12 player of the year hopeful McKinley Wright IV to just two points and one assist in the first half.

The Ducks started the second half well. Brining it within one point through five minutes and forcing 10 turnovers in as many minutes. It was seemingly within one score for the entire second half but Will Richardson partnered with Chris Duarte came up huge down the stretch, scoring 9 of the Duck’s final 11 points. Oregon’s 60 points were the least they have achieved in a win in nearly two years but holding a usually efficient Colorado offense to 21 of 61 shooting and 22% from three-point land was enough to get the job done.

Oregon hit the hardware again in less than 48 hours, taking on Utah at home Saturday at 6 PM.

Audio Story:

Dana Altman Postgame: