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Oregon Ducks vs Washington State Cougars Basketball Recap

Oregon 69, Washington State 43

Schizophrenics would just love the Pac-10 Conference basketball season this year. No team can maintain the same personality or identity for very long.

Joevan Catron had 17 points and 9 rebounds, leading Oregon to its most lopsided Pac-10 win in five years in a 69-43 win over Washington State at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks led from the first basket and were up by ten at the half, running away with a 36-20 advantage in the second half.

The Ducks got 15 points from Jay-R Strowbridge, 13 from Garrett Sim and 10 from E.J. Singler. First year Coach Dana Altman has been pushing a fast-paced, high energy attack for the Ducks, and it led the Ducks to forcing 15 turnovers while allowing just 8 assists.

For the Cougars, Klay Thompson led the way with 12 points, a full ten points below his season average. He struggled mightily from the field, going just 4-of-13, including just 2-of-8 from three-point range. Reggie Moore added 10 points, and no other Cougar got more than 6 points in the loss. Head coach Ken Bone's team, fighting hard to stay above the rest of the pack in the Pac-10, laid a complete egg against a below average Oregon team that has been struggling to find an identity.

Just what is it with Pac-10 teams this year? Washington State crushed Gonzaga at home in early December and was coming off an authoritative win over Washington this past Sunday. Just four days later in the same part of the United States (the Pacific Northwest; Eugene isn’t that far from Pullman), Wazzu was completely unrecognizable, a team totally different from the Sunday-night juggernaut that ran Washington into the ground. Oregon scored 23 of the first 30 points of the second half and ran out to a 46-25 lead in the early stages of the second half. It’s one thing to lose at an Oregon club that has fallen from grace after making the Elite Eight in the 2007 NCAA Tournament; it’s quite another matter to get absolutely destroyed by the Ducks, who are lacking in size, depth and quickness and have few weapons to trouble anybody. On a night when Washington got ambushed by Oregon State, though, it’s worth noting that everyone in the Pac-10 has been inconsistent this season with the sole exception of Arizona State: The Sun Devils, at 1-9 in the league, are consistently awful.

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The Cougars struggled all around in this game against Oregon, a far cry from the several games in which they’ve flourished against quality opposition: Wazzu wound up shooting just 26 percent from the field and 16 percent from three-point range. The Ducks controlled the boards with a 36-28 margin.

The 26 point win was their largest win since February 18, 2006, when the Ducks crushed Washington State by 30 points at McArthur Court.

Just stop trying to figure out the Pac-10 this year. You won’t solve the riddles this league is tossing at you on a weekly basis.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer