Three takeaways from Oregon's 84-56 win over Washington
The Ducks jumped out to a massive lead early and never looked back against the Huskies. It was a dominant performance on both ends of the court and it was Oregon’s most complete game in quite some time.
Here are my three key takeaways from Oregon’s 84-56 victory:
Pace
During Oregon’s six-game win streak, its ability to control the pace of the game has really stood out to me and it was on full display once again in tonight’s win over the Huskies. The Ducks are doing a fantastic job at being able to slow down the game or speed it up at will depending on the situation of the game.
In the first half, Oregon came out firing. After knocking down a couple of big threes to give them an early lead, they decided to continue pushing the tempo of the game and it paid off as they had a monstrous 48-13 lead after the first half.
Oregon’s pace and tempo were lacking at times earlier this season but it appears that this team has finally figured it out on the court and they’re starting to reap the benefits.
Backcourt show
Oregon’s backcourt put on a show tonight and between Will Richardson, Jacob Young, and De’Vion Harmon, they combined for 42 points on 16-of-27 shooting.
The starting backcourt was great in all facets. They combined for 12 assists and just four turnovers. On the defensive end, they were able to slow down Terrell Brown Jr., who had been on a tear heading into this game. He scored 14 points but shot just 3-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Oregon’s trifecta of guards had one of their most complete all-around games this year, and it’s an encouraging sign as Oregon looks to keep things rolling.
Generating Turnovers
Oregon did a fantastic job on the defensive end tonight and held the Huskies to 30.9 percent from the field.
The Ducks forced a whopping 22 turnovers. While some of those were self-inflicted wounds by the Huskies, Oregon had active hands in passing lanes and did a great job at trapping them in tough situations along the baseline and forcing them to try to make some really tough cross-court passes.
We’ve seen Dana Altman-led teams really kick things up at the end of seasons, and a large part of that is the team really meshing well on defense and being able to suffocate teams early and often. While holding a team to almost 30 percent from the field may not be sustainable, the ability to create turnovers at key parts in a game is.
