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Oregon vs Arizona State Basketball Recap

The Oregon Ducks are who we thought they were

After a surprising 2-0 Pac-10 start – with road wins at Washington St. and Washington – the Ducks have lost two games in a row (both at home), the most recent a 19-point drubbing at the hands of Arizona St, and they are looking once more like the team that lost non-conference games to Montana and Portland.

Coming off its first home loss to Oregon St. in 19 seasons, Oregon looked lifeless and offensively stagnant against Arizona St. For the second consecutive game, the Ducks appeared baffled by a match-up zone. They trailed by 19 at halftime (46-27) and never recovered, losing 76-57.

ASU started hot and never looked back The Sun Devils hit three-pointers on their first two possessions and never trailed en route to their third straight victory. With the win, ASU improves to 13-5 on the season and 3-2 in Pac-10 play.

The theme of ASU’s recent success has been stifling defense, and that trend continued Thursday. The Sun Devils’ tenacious zone shut down Oregon’s perimeter offense. Guard Tajuan Porter, Oregon’s leading scorer, was limited to just 6 points on 2 of 11 shooting and reigning Pac-10 player of the week, Center Michael Dunigan was relegated to the bench after picking up two early fouls. The Ducks consequently couldn’t establish an interior game, instead swinging the ball around the perimeter of ASU’s zone and often settling for poor shots late into the shot clock. The Ducks shot an abysmal 37% from the field, and didn’t help themselves at the foul line were they made only 9-17 free-throw attempts.

Defensively, Oregon had no answer for ASU’s perimeter threats Ty Abbot and Rihards Kuksiks. Kuksiks led all scorers with 25 points and was 4-6 from beyond the arc. Abbot also hit four three-pointers, and chipped in 16 points for the Sun Devils. Oregon granted ASU open look after open look from beyond the arc, and they capitalized, draining 10-20 thee-point attempts.

Oregon dominated the offensive boards and looked just as, if not more athletic than ASU, but Herb Sendek’s squad appeared decidedly better prepared and better coached. Dunigan was only afforded 4 field-goal attempts, and Porter, one of the premier outside shooters in the conference, struggled as ASU’s extended zone forced him to put the ball on the floor. The Ducks appeared the more athletic team (they out-rebounded ASU 32-25 and had a 13 rebound advantage on the offensive glass) but for the second game in a row, Ernie Kent’s squad had no answer for a zone defense. Kent experimented with all sorts of lineups – ten Duck players saw the floor for 10 minutes or more – but the substitution method backfired. Oregon couldn’t find its rhythm offensively and turned the ball over 16 times.

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With the loss, Oregon drops to 2-2 in the Pac-10 and 10-6 overall. The Ducks will look to eclipse the .500 mark in Pac-10 play on Saturday, when they take on Arizona in Eugene.

ASU looks to improve its win steak to 4 games, Saturday night at Oregon St. With a win, and a California loss, ASU would move into first place in the cluttered Pac-10 standings.

By Nate Wilson-Traisman
Pac 10 Fans Staff Writer