Oregon overcomes epic second-half collapse to sneak by Washington State 75-70
Oregon Ducks #3 Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 17 points in their win against the Washington State Cougars at T-Mobile Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.
LAS VEGAS, NV – It was a little too close for comfort for the Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament against Washington State at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
The Ducks blew a 19-point lead and rallied late in the second half for a 75-70 win and advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. Oregon faces top-seeded UCLA (28-4) in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m.
Oregon (19-13), the fourth-seeded team in the tournament, came from behind in the closing minutes and snapped Washington State's seven-game winning streak.
Oregon had a 19-point lead in the first half before a revitalized Washington State, and came back to take the lead late in the second half.
Jermaine Couisnard and Keeshawn Barthelemy led the Ducks with 17 points each, including clutch baskets down the stretch as Oregon finished the game on a 7-0 run for the narrow victory.
"I put on the board before the game that it was going to be a 45-minute fight," said Oregon coach Dana Altman.
After early back-and-forth buckets between the teams, Barthelemy provided an offensive charge coming off the bench for the Ducks. He scored six straight points as part of a 17-3 run to give Oregon a 25-12 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
The Cougars chipped away at the lead, cutting it down to 38-30 going into halftime behind 12 first-half points from guard T.J. Bamba.
"We gave them a couple of threes there right before half that got their momentum going," Altman said.
Washington State Cougars #5 TJ Bamba (G) driving to the basket while being defended by an Oregon Ducks’ defender. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.
In the second half, Washington State's Mouhamed Gueye hit a three-pointer with 13:55 left, cutting the lead to two, 47-45. On the next possession, Gueye made a lay-up off a smooth pass from Bamba.
With nine minutes left, Bamba made a clutch 3-pointer off an assist from D.J. Rodman to give Washington State (17-16), the fifth-seeded team in the tournament, a 58-57 lead, its first since the opening minutes. The Cougars led the Pac-12 in three-point shooting this season.
Oregon regained the lead on a tip-in by N'Faly Dante to give the Ducks a 72-70 lead, with 1:40 remaining. Washington State would not score again as Oregon finished the game scoring seven straight points.
The Cougars were held scoreless over the final three and a half minutes, and their bench was outscored 28-3 by the Ducks bench.