Written story by Austin Ota
The Oregon mens basketball team traveled south to Palo Alto to take on Stanford in what was both teams second PAC-12 game of the season. Oregon was coming off of a bad loss to a tumbling Arizona State program, and the trend continued, as the game ended on a buzzer-beating three pointer by Stanford's Jaiden Delaire. The Ducks battled, however, and had the game tied with just three seconds to go, despite being down 11 midway through the second half.
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, but Stanford ended with a seven point lead due to strong defense by Freshman Harrison Ingram. Ingram, who would finish the night with 18 points, had 11 in the first half, along with three rebounds and three assists. Oregon, who failed to score in the last 4:35 of the half, was led by Will Richardson and his three deep balls. Stanford began the night playing large, with sophomore guard Michael O'Connell surrounded by four forwards, as a way to contest Oregon's size. Cardinal forward James Keefe finished the night with 8 rebounds and played solid defense on Franck Kepnang and N'Faly Dante all night long. An impressive part of Stanford coach Jerod Haase's execution was the depth of his squad. Through 8 minutes, Stanford had played eleven different bodies, the last of which was a starter as recently as last season. Shuffling through different players meant different looks for Oregon, and they had a hard time adjusting, shooting just 41 percent in the first half.
The start of the second half was all Cardinal, as they had a double digit lead with only 15:33 to go in the game. However, Quincy Guerrier had one of his best nights as a Duck, at one point scoring on three straight baskets for them, and finished with a season-high 18 points. Guerrier, who has struggled in a transition from Small Forward to Power Forward in Altman's offense, has been much better of late, and Ducks fans should be intrigued with his play as the season continues. Multiple key steals and layups by Jacob Young brought the Ducks only down 3 with 1:06 to go, when Will Richardson hit the final of his team-high 4 threes over his defender to tie the game. However, Richardson could not get his shot to fall with 2.3 seconds on the clock, and following a Cardinal timeout, Jaiden Delaire sniped a three from long range to send Cardinal fans home happy, and Ducks fans wondering how exactly they were going to turn this season around.
The Ducks, who now sit at 5-5, will travel back to Eugene and face the Portland Pilots on Wednesday, December 15th at 6:00 PM.
Postgame Interview: Dana Altman