SEATTLE — Fortunately for the Oregon Ducks, when their offense suddenly disappeared their defense stepped up.
Payton Pritchard scored 14 points and Paul White added 13 as Oregon turned back a late rally by Washington to preserve a 72-64 victory on Saturday to end the Pac-12 Conference regular season.
Washington, which trailed 44-29 at the half, used a 9-2 run to pull within 68-64 with 3:12 remaining, but failed to score the rest of the way.
“We got some stops,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman. “We got real stagnant offensively there and had really bad turnovers the second half. Not only at the end, but throughout the half. We had nine the second half after only having four the first half.”
David Crisp had 19 points and Noah Dickerson 18 for Washington (20-11, 10-8). Troy Brown added 12 points for the Ducks (20-11, 10-8).
“When you’re playing a game like that and you’re down 15 with eight (minutes) to go and you’re cutting it, we’ve got the crowd rolling, everything almost has to go right,” said Washington coach Mike Hopkins. “We got in positions, we have to trust each other. Sometimes, we’re trying to make a positive play, but you’ve got to trust each other.”
Crisp had seven consecutive points to trigger Washington’s run. Two free throws by Dickerson made 68-64. But, the Huskies missed their final five field goal attempts and Dickerson, who made his first 10 free attempts, missed the front end of the bonus with 27 seconds left.
After pulling within 68-64, the Huskies turned it over on their next two possessions and then missed their final five field goal attempts.
“We were fortunate there,” Altman said. “I don’t think Dickerson missed a free throw all day and then he missed the front end of that one. Those darn free throws, which we know in a couple of our losses, are really big.”
Oregon closed the first half with a 14-2 run for a 44-29 lead at the break. The Huskies went the final 6:11 without a field goal, scoring their only four points from the free-throw line during that span.
The Ducks moved the ball well against Washington’s 2-3 zone with 12 assists, including six by Brown, on their 16 first-half field goals, including eight 3-pointers. Oregon also had 20-13 edge on the boards, including seven offensive rebounds that led to nine second-chance points.
“You can’t put yourself in a hole like that,” Hopkins said. “There was a lot of times where we just struggled. You’ve got to tip your hat to Oregon, they made eight threes in the first half to get the separation.”
BIG PICTURE
Washington: Despite their first 20-win season since 2011-12, the Huskies lost five of their last eight.
Oregon: The Ducks reached the 20-win mark for the eighth consecutive season, including two victories over Washington.
UP NEXT
Washington entered in a logjam of four teams with seven conference losses. They now have to wait for completion of late games for conference tournament seeding.
Oregon pulled even with the Huskies, but also awaits the outcome of later games.
