Oregon suffers blowout loss in regular-season finale
Coming into the weekend, it was abundantly clear that the Oregon Ducks are not going to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
No notable bracketologists list the Ducks among their projected tournament field, and if the Ducks hope to take part in the big dance, they’re going to have to earn an automatic bid by winning next week’s Pac-12 tournament.
So, in their regular-season finale at Washington State on Saturday, the Ducks were playing with nothing but pride — and maybe a slight hope of bolstering their conference tournament seed — on the line.
The final result epitomized their disappointing season.
Oregon was blown out by Washington State in Pullman by a score of 94-74 and now sits at 18-13 on the season and 11-9 in Pac-12 play. The loss ensured that the Ducks will not get a first-round bye in the conference tournament, making their path to an NCAA tournament berth even more difficult.
The day started on a low note for the Ducks when it was announced that their leading scorer, Will Richardson, would miss the game because he was not feeling well.
With his senior point guard unavailable, Dana Altman opted to start big-man Franck Kepnang alongside N’Faly Dante, marking the first time this season the Ducks have rolled with two bigs in the starting lineup.
But Oregon was a mess without Richardson. It shot 48.1 percent from the field but went just 4-for-12 from three and recorded assists on just 10 of its 26 field goals. Meanwhile, Washington State caught fire early beyond the arc and never looked back.
The Cougars shot 16-of-34 (47.1 percent) from downtown and also turned 11 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Oregon was in touching distance of the Cougars with 2:41 to go in the first half when the score was 36-30. But Washington State went on a quick 7-0 run, and the Ducks were never able to trim the lead back to single digits.
Jacob Young finished with 21 points and four assists for the Ducks, and Kepnang and Eric Williams Jr. each had 11 points. Noah Williams led Washington State with 19 points and eight assists.
Oregon will now wait to find out who its first-round opponent at the Pac-12 tournament will be.
The tournament begins Wednesday, March 9 at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the opening game set for a noon tip-off.
