Ducks fly by Beavers

It’s often said that home-court advantage can be the difference in rivalry games and that advantage was on display for the Oregon Ducks as they thoroughly handled their northern rival en-route to a 66-57 victory at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night.

The 350th Civil War figured to be a highly contested matchup as both the Beavers (11-9, 3-5) and the Ducks (14-7, 4-4) entered this crucial game with the same conference record (3-4). Earlier this week, Beavers head coach Wayne Tinkle said that the Beavers were going to have to be prepared to match Oregon’s energy from the start in order to stay in the game.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, they weren’t able to match Oregon’s hot-shooting first half as the Ducks shot a blistering 65 percent and racked up 41 first half points as the Ducks established momentum and rhythm that would prove to be the difference. In addition, the Ducks also added 17 points off nine OSU turnovers.

“It’s really disappointing because it was effort and focus,” Tinkle said. “We said ‘Let’s come down here and be the aggressor like the first game’ and we weren’t defensively or offensively. We gave up 65 percent shooting in the first half. It was key for us to take care of the ball and take good shots so we could get back and build our defense. We didn’t do that and they got out and got really ramped up.”

OSU couldn’t slow down the Ducks offensively in the first half as they got whatever they wanted inside and out as senior guard Elijah Brown scored 18 of 20 points in the first on 3-4 shooting from three-point range.

Offensively, the Beavers were led by double digit scoring from Stephen Thompson Jr. (16), Ethan Thompson (13) and Tres Tinkle (11). Tinkle noted that if the Beavers hadn’t put themselves in such a hole, the game would have looked different.

“We have to play with more effort (on the defensive end),” Tinkle said. “If we played the first half half the way we played in the second it’s a completely different game. We have to be tired of having the same thing happen over and over. The coaches do a great job of getting us ready so it comes down to the team. We have to figure it out and collectively we have to buy in and be more on the same page. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself.”

Things looked good for the Beavers early as they jumped out to a 9-5 lead before Oregon went on an offensive tear for the rest of the half. The Ducks’ largest lead came with 3:54 remaining in the first when the Ducks were up 21. Oregon was able to pull away thanks to a 28-14 run to end the first half as Oregon led 41-25 at the break.

Wayne Tinkle and his staff made significant adjustments at the halftime break, but it was too-little too-late as the Ducks had built a lead at home that proved to be just too much. The Beavers played an inspired second half that included better defensive rotations, a better flow on offense, and lack of turnovers but Oregon did just enough to keep the Beavers at bay.

“We climbed up into our guys at halftime and challenged them to show some heart and some toughness,” Tinkle said. “We were better in the second half but 16 points was just too big of a hole to climb. We have to continue to build and hopefully get better.”

OSU’s defense gave them a chance to win in the second stanza as the Beavers clamped down and held Oregon to just 25 second half points and 25 percent shooting compared to the 41 points and 65 percent shooting in the first half. Tinkle echoed the same frustration that has seemingly plagued the Beavers all season. Playing a full 40 minute game.

“We flipped the script in the second half,” Tinkle said. “We played defense like we were capable of, but we have to do it from start to finish and that is something this team hasn’t learned yet. I’m proud of the way that we defended in the second half but our shooters have to make shots. (Going) 3-17 from behind the 3 point line isn’t going to get it done.”

Despite the loss, Tinkle was still positive and was proud of the way that his team battled back in the second half. However he and the Beavers are frustrated with the same issues continuing to plague them.

“We are tired of learning lessons,” Tinkle said. “We have to have everyone locked in and playing the way that we are supposed to play. We didn’t protect the rim in the first half, we were careless with the ball, and we didn’t guard the ball. That’s what causes the frustration and then we’d get stagnant offensively. We have to get to where our guys and our stars have to bring it. We have to get some (scoring) punch of the bench. We have to find a way to get aggressive on the road much like we were at the Arizona schools.”

One of the key differences between the first Civil War and this one was that Beavers struggled to get forward Drew Eubanks in any sort of a rhythm as the junior finished with four points and nine rebounds. Eubanks’ four points tied his season low which he also had in OSU’s last game against USC.

The loss to Oregon significantly hurts OSU’s chances at postseason play. The Beavers have 10 conference games remaining and Tinkle’s squad would need to finish with a .500 conference record in order to be in the discussion for the NIT tournament. At this point, OSU’s chances of the NCAA Tournament are slim to none and would have to come by winning the Pac-12 tournament in Vegas.

Up next the Beavers head to the Bay Area to take on Stanford and Cal. OSU is still searching for their first Pac-12 road victory and this might be one of OSU’s best weekend to snag a road victory as California is currently sitting last in the Pac-12.