Behind Jacob Young's standout performance, Ducks oust Oregon State at Pac-12 tournament
Everything was at stake for the Oregon Ducks in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.
The Ducks’ hopes of making the NCAA tournament via an at-large bid are all but over. If they want to reach the big dance, they’re going to have to run the table in Las Vegas this week. They found themselves in a must-win matchup Wednesday against their in-state rival while playing without their leading scorer, Will Richardson.
With so much uncertainty surrounding Oregon at a time that it badly needs some stability, Jacob Young took it upon himself to provide a major boost and ensured the season lasted another day.
In his best game as a Duck, Young finished with 23 points and 11 assists while leading Oregon to an 86-72 win over Oregon State at T-Mobile Arena. With the win, Oregon advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal, where they will face Colorado at 2:30 p.m.
Quincy Guerrier added 20 points for the Ducks, and N’Faly Dante finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks.
After winning the Pac-12 tournament and making a surprise run to the Elite Eight last season, Oregon State’s disastrous season came to an unceremonious end Wednesday. With the loss, the Beavers finish the year at 3-28 and finished 2022 without a single win. Jarod Lucas finished with 22 points for the Beavers.
Oregon raced out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and looked very much like a team that was playing with its season on the line.
But that sense of urgency only got them so far early on. The Beavers were also playing with their season on the line and responded with a 16-5 run to cut the Ducks’ lead to 17-16 midway through the first half. From there, the two teams traded haymakers, with Oregon constantly threatening to pull away, only for Oregon State answering with a run of its own on each occasion.
The Ducks pushed their lead as far as 11 in the second half, but the Beavers trimmed it to 61-58 with 11:07 left in regulation.
To make matters worse for the Ducks, Dante and Guerrier each left with lower-body injuries during crunch time. Both players returned with 6:29 to go, though, and by that point, the Ducks had taken control of the game for good.
They took their largest lead of the game with 4:33 left when a pair of Young free throws made it 77-64. When it was all said and done, the Ducks shot 65.4 percent from the field in the second half and got 13 massive points from Guerrier over the final 20 minutes.
Now, the Ducks will set their sights on a rematch with Colorado after splitting two regular-season matchups with the Buffs earlier this year. Oregon lost 82-78 in Eugene on Jan. 25 and topped Colorado 66-51 in Boulder nine days later.
