National Basketball Association
Oregon 76, Washington St. 62
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon
Officials:
# Gregory Nixon, # Tony Padilla, # Winston Stith
Attendance:
8088
By The Sports Xchange
EUGENE, Ore. -- No. 13 Oregon is back in first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
Forward Elgin Cook scored 24 points and center Chris Boucher added 18 points as the Ducks (22-6) defeated Washington State 76-62 to improve to 11-4 in the Pac-12 and take a one-game lead over Utah and Arizona. Colorado defeated Arizona 75-72 earlier in the night.
"I heard about that," Cook said of the Arizona loss. "I was pretty happy."
Oregon has three games remaining in the regular season as it chases its first conference title since 2002.
"We still have Utah right on our heels, Arizona is there, and Cal," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "It's going to be a tight race."
Forward Dillon Brooks scored 17 points and guard Tyler Dorsey had 12 as Oregon set a school record with its 24th straight home victory. Oregon outrebounded Washington State 38-29 and had 15 second-chance points.
Guard Que Johnson scored 19 points to lead the Cougars (9-19, 1-15), who dropped their 14th straight game. WSU coach Ernie Kent coached the Ducks when they won their only Pac-12 title.
"They have got a really, really nice squad," Kent said of the Ducks. "If they continue to defend and keep their heads focused the right way, they have a chance. That team has a chance to win this thing, close it out and have a chance to do some damage in the tournament too because they will get an excellent seed."
The Ducks took a 15-point lead at halftime before Cook scored the first four points of the second half to put the Ducks ahead 46-27.
Washington State answered with a 12-4 run and closed within 50-39 on a 3-pointer by Derrien King before Brooks followed with a basket for the Ducks. Brooks later added a 3-pointer to push Oregon's lead to 55-41.
Cook drove for a basket and Dorsey had a layup to push Oregon's lead to 59-41 with 10:50 remaining.
The Ducks scored 12 straight points to take a 17-3 lead.
Dorsey and Boucher hit back-to-back 3-pointers as Oregon went ahead 10-3 before Brooks scored for the Ducks. Cook drove for a basket and Dorsey made another 3-pointer before Brooks scored a basket.
"We jumped out and came out strong," Altman said. "We did a really good job. Our activity was good and that led to some turnovers and baskets."
Johnson made back-to-back 3-pointers and center Josh Hawkinson followed with a basket to get the Cougars within 19-11. Center Valentine Izundu and guard Ike Iroegbu scored consecutive buckets as Washington State cut the lead to 22-15.
Cook scored for Oregon and Boucher added back-to-back baskets before Dorsey's third 3-pointer of the half gave the Ducks a 31-17 lead. Washington State closed within 38-27 before Cook and Brooks each made two free throws to put Oregon ahead 42-27 at halftime.
NOTES: Washington State coach Ernie Kent is the winningest coach in Oregon history, winning 235 games from 1997-2010 at his alma mater. ... Wednesday's game was the lone meeting between Oregon and Washington State this season, marking the first time since 1922 that they did not meet at least twice in the regular season. ... Oregon's 24 straight home wins broke the record of 23 straight set from 1937-39 and 2001-03. ... Oregon's 124 wins in the past five seasons is the most ever for the school during that span.
Top Game Performances
| Washington St. |
|
Oregon |
|
Que Johnson 19 |
Scoring |
Elgin Cook 24 |
|
Charles Callison 4 |
Assists |
Dwayne Benjamin 3 |
|
Josh Hawkinson 10 |
Rebounds |
Chris Boucher 13 |
|
Que Johnson 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Elgin Cook 10 |
|
Robert Franks 1 |
Steals |
Elgin Cook 3 |
|
Valentine Izundu 2 |
Blocks |
Chris Boucher 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Washington St.
|
62 |
43.6 |
9-20 |
5-8 |
14 |
29 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
| Oregon
|
76 |
41.9 |
7-19 |
17-20 |
11 |
37 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
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