Oregon outlasts Washington

Arsalan Kazemi came alive for Oregon in the overtime both on the boards and in the scoring column, leading the Ducks to an 80-77 win this evening in Las Vegas. The Huskies had chances to win the game in regulation but weren’t able to close out Oregon.

The Ducks were led by the 19 points and 8 rebounds of senior Tony Woods, who was a thorn in the Huskies’ side all evening. Oregon got 17 points from Daymean Dotson, 16 from E.J. Singler, and 14 from Kazemi, most coming in overtime. Kazemi also added 9 boards as the Huskies big men were outplayed by a large margin.

The Huskies were led by the 19 points of C.J. Wilcox. Wilcox also had six boards and two assists. Scott Suggs had 18 points and Abdul Gaddy added 14 points and five assists. Andrew Andrews added 11 points off the bench.

Dominic Artis returned to Oregon’s line up, making the Ducks significantly quicker. Threes by Suggs and Wilcox pushed the Huskies to an 8-6 lead early. It was quickly erased by Siegler and Dotson, who both hit threes for the Ducks.

Washington surged again with an 11-0 run, and when Andrew Andrews hit a lay in and was fouled, his foul shot made it 20-14 Washington. Suggs followed with a trey and the Huskies were up nine.

Oregon surged back. Again Dotson heated up and Oregon closed to within two at the 7:14 mark. Ben Carter tied it with a baseline jumper, 27-all. When Austin Waverly got inside N’Diaye and layed it in, Oregon had the lead back at 32-31 with 3:21 left in the half.

Washington struggled in the last few minutes and Oregon pulled out to a 39-34 halftime lead.

Washington slowly climbed back into the game and when N’Diaye hit a jump hook at the 15:50 mark, the Huskies jumped back on top 44-43.

With the game tied at 48-all, Andrews stepped up and nailed a 24-footer from the top of the key to push the Huskies up three. A Gaddy steal and lay-in made it 54-50, and an N’Diaye lay in made it a six point lead. Just as it looked the Huskies would begin to pull away, Woods beat N’Diaye to the rim and hit a three point play to make it 58-55 at the 5:30 mark. A Simmons turnover led to a Singler baseline jumper and the Husky lead was down to one as Romar took time out.

Suggs hit a lay in and Johnathan Loyd buried a three to tie it at 60 with less than four minutes left. The sprint to the finish was on.

Out of the media time out, Scott Suggs could not catch the inbounds pass and turned it over. Oregon missed two easy shots. Wilcox threw up an air ball to follow up. Oregon finally struck with Woods on a jam off the transition. Wilcox followed it with a floater in the lane to tie it with 90 seconds left. Singler missed a floater and Kazemi missed a put back that Simmons rebounded, and Romar called time out with 1:12 left.

Wilcox lost the ball in the air, got it back, drove the lane, stopped, elevated, and swished a contested jumper to break the tie. Oregon called time out with 39.2 left.

Oregon missed a three but the rebound was pounded out of bounds by N’Diaye. Loyd was fouled by Gaddy with 16.6 seconds left. He buried both to tie it. Oregon fouled with 4.4 seconds left on purpose. The final Husky possession resulted in Wilcox getting stripped and watching the ball roll harmlessly across the court. Overtime.

Suggs made one of two free throws to open the scoring. Woods missed a short jump hook but was able to corral the rebound and hit the put back and Oregon was ahead. After a Husky turnover, Kazemi hit two free throws to push Oregon up three. Another Husky turnover (off of a poor call) led to a Kazemi drive that missed, but he got the offensive board and put back and the Ducks were on their way to burying Washington.

Out of a time out, another Husky turnover by Gaddy led to a Kazemi slam and the Ducks led ballooned to 7 and it was out of reach.

Washington climbed to within five and Gaddy was fouled with 28.1 left, but he missed his second and the Huskies had to foul. The Huskies just made too many mental mistakes down the stretch to win this game.

The Huskies finish their season with an 18-15 record and no chance at an NCAA berth. Now they will hope for an NIT bid.