Ducks take sole possession of 1st place in the Pac-12
EUGENE (OR) — Jermaine Couisnard led Oregon with 19 points, N’Faly Dante added 16 and the Ducks rode a sizzling second half of shooting to blow out Arizona State 80-61 Thursday night at Eugene, Ore.
The Ducks (14-5, 6-2 Pac-12) ended a two-game losing streak by exploding for 52 points, 14 for Couisnard, in the second half. Oregon knocked down 18 of 26 shots (69.2 percent) after halftime.
Jose Perez led all scorers with 20 points for Arizona State (11-8, 5-3). No other Sun Devil scored in double figures.
Arizona State jumped on top 22-12 on Adam Miller’s dunk with 7:33 left in the first half. However, Oregon used a 11-2 to run to cut the Sun Devils’ lead to one.
Arizona State was up 33-28 at halftime, with Perez scoring 13 points. Oregon made just 10 of 29 shots in the first half (34.5 percent), while the Sun Devils hit 14 of 31 (45.2 percent).
The Ducks took complete control in the second half. They tied the score at 36, tied it again at 44 and trailed 46-44 after a Frankie Collins dunk for the Sun Devils with 14:16 to play.
It would be the last time the Sun Devils led in the game. Oregon went on an 18-3 run to go up 62-47 and never looked back.
Couisnard finished the game strong for Oregon, scoring 10 of his team’s last 18 points as the Ducks led by as many as 22 down the stretch.
The Ducks back big man Nate Bittle, returning from an wrist injury that had kept him out since mid-November, had seven points in 12 minutes of action as Oregon moved closer to full roster availability.
Oregon wound up outshooting Arizona State 50.9 percent to 43.9 percent from the floor, 39.1 percent (9 of 23) to 23.5 percent (4 of 17) from 3-point range and 93.8 percent (15 of 16) to 63.6 percent (7 of 11) from the foul line.
–Field Level Media
