Oregon Looks Promising but Can't Knock off Baylor in 78-70 Loss
The Oregon Ducks (6-5, 0-2 Pac-12) welcomed the No. 1 Baylor Bears (9-0, 0-0 Big 12) to Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene Saturday night in desperate need of a big win after a rough start to the season.
First half
Baylor won the tip and was quick to score off a Kendall Brown dunk, but the Ducks had the stronger start. The teams traded threes and N'Faly Dante was getting to the rim early and often, slamming home a dunk on multiple defenders after De'Vion Harmon chased down a miss before dropping off a pass to set up Dante. Oregon went on an early 7-0 run, but Baylor was still in their face on defense with some lightning fast rotations.
The Ducks continued their strong start in the first half thanks to a strong presence inside and good ball movement that continued to set up open looks. Will Richardson had a nice back-and-forth exchange with Jeremy Sochan as the two traded threes and Sochan caught the Oregon defense sleeping in transition. The Ducks led 22-14 at the under 12 media timeout but continued to give Baylor ample space to convert quality looks from behind the arc.
Baylor was living at the three-point line for much of the first half and the Ducks continued to play solid defense but numerous turnovers from bad passes helped the Bears get back within 10, trailing Oregon 29-21 with 7:40 to play. Dante was up to seven points on a perfect three-for-three shooting to go along with three rebounds and some stingy defense inside that was complimented by staying busy in the passing lanes.
The Ducks continued to battle in the paint and were dominating on the glass, out-rebounding Baylor 14-7 and doubling the Bears' points in the paint. Baylor guard Adam Flagler was absolutely lights out from three-point range in the first half, knocking down five of his six shots to fuel the offense. Oregon led 34-30 with about four minutes left in the first half.
Harmon carried the torch for the Ducks offensively in the first half and led the Ducks with 13 points and also pitched in on the defensive end to force a turnover in the closing minutes.
The momentum started to tip back in Baylor's favor with some tough buckets inside and a costly turnover from Harmon, but the Ducks got a big stop to end the first half. Oregon went to the locker room up 39-35 on the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
Second Half
The Bears came out with some big energy to start the second half and were elevated by strong play from guard James Akinjo, who broke down Harmon with some fast dribbling before popping a jumper over him. Harmon answered with his own step back, but Akinjo nailed Baylor's tenth three-pointer of the game to give his team their first lead of the night 42-41 at the under 16 timeout.
Both teams continued to trade buckets early and the Ducks got a quick five points from Richardson who cracked double figures and was up to five assists on the night. Baylor kept hitting three-pointers but the Ducks held a slim 49-48 lead with 11:45 left. Oregon grabbed some momentum after Franck Kepnang chased down a layup and spiked it off the backboard to make Mathew Knight Arena erupt.
Baylor must've been intent on silencing the crowd because they went on a 13-2 run highlighted by Kendall Brown speeding by the defense and scoring with ease, flying to the rim on multiple dunks. Akinjo was up to 14 points to extend Baylor's lead to eight (59-51) at the under-eight media timeout and the Ducks were dangerously close to letting this one get out of reach.
The teams swapped layups and Baylor was up 12 with just under seven minutes to go. Jacob Young got to the basket and used some beautiful dribble moves to carve through the defense.
Baylor was trying to put the nail in the coffin but Oregon wouldn't go away, as a corner three from Young brought the game within eight, as Baylor led 72-64 with 2:37 left.
The Bears ran almost the entire shot clock down and the teams traded layups again. A big steal by Harmon off the inbound gave the Ducks another glimmer of hope with just over a minute to go, but the Ducks had too much of a deficit to overcome and would end up losing to Baylor by a score of 78-70.
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