Written Story by: Jasmine Saboorian
The Oregon Men’s Basketball team played the Arizona State Sun Devils tonight on Thursday, January 25. The first half of the game opened with the Sun Devils taking the tip-off and Alonzo Gaffney starting the scoreboard up with a layup. It wasn’t long after until Matthew Knight Arena was filled with cheers as Nate Bittle put up Oregon’s first points with a perfect 3-point jumper.
The Sun Devils and Ducks continued to go neck-and-neck until N’Faly Dante was sent to the line for two after a foul by ASU’s Alonzo Gaffney. Dante successfully hit both and MKA lit up. The Sun Devils and Ducks continued to go neck-and-neck with back-to-back baskets from the Dante and the Sun Devils’ Jose Perez and Alonzo Gaffney, making the score 13-10 Devils.
A dry spell occurred for the Ducks, with no scoring for nearly eight minutes. The were stuck with 10 points on the scoreboard from 15:01 to 7:04. The dry spell was broken with a Dante dunk, and the points began coming in as Brennan Rigsby and Jadrian Tracey made back-to-back triples.
Fans at MKA really went crazy after Keeshawn Barthelemy banked a jumper while
getting fouled by the Sun Devils’ Shawn Phillips Jr., with him also converting the free throw.
Unfortunately, though, the Sun Devils continued to take the lead at this point at 24-21, and the Ducks trailed closely behind the Sun Devils for the remainder of the half, which ended with the scoreboard 33-28 in favor of Arizona State.
The second half opened up with a classic N’Faly Dante driving layup in the paint, which
excited Oregon fans. Immediately after, an offensive rebound was acquired and Jermaine Couisnard scored a beautiful jumper. The Sun Devils continued to extend their short lead with a 3-pointer by Jose Perez, but that would be their final lead of the entire game.
Nate Bittle was sent to the line by a personal foul by Alonzo Gaffney and hit both, not letting down the hope for the team and fans. Gaffey fouled Couisnard shortly after and sent him to the line, where he matched Bittle. After back-and-forth points and a relatively even score, the Ducks finally took a strong lead after a 3-point jumper by Kwame Evans Jr. gave them a 47-46 lead, and it all went up from there.
Barthelemy went on a streak after making a 3-point jumper on the fast break and immediately after, he banked a driving layup to give the Ducks a 54-47 lead, their greatest lead throughout the whole game. Barthelemy continued his streak with yet another stepback jumper on the fast break which was followed by an undeniably electric dunk by N’Faly Dante, sending MKA absolutely wild with cheers, claps, and jumps all around.
Jermaine Couisnard began a streak of his own with a jump shot that let to a 3-point jumper. He was going off on the court and racking the Ducks’ points up in exchange. Shortly after his jump shot, Couisnard was sent to the line by Jamie Neal and hit both. This half was unlike the first one, the Ducks began to throw heat with every attempt.
As the second half of the game was coming to a close, it was clear that the Ducks would take the cake. Some last-minute scoring drives were a Nate Bittle layup and a pair of Kario Oquendo free throws. The final score was Oregon 80, Arizona State 61.
Overall, Jermaine Couisnard led the Ducks with 19 points, 6-13 FG attempts, 3-6 3PT attempts, and 4-4 on free throws. N’Faly Dante led close behind with 16 points, 6-8 FG attempts, and 4-4 on free throws.
Audio Story by: David Miller