Oregon falls to Arizona State 90-73 in Poor Defensive Showing

Ducks allow open shots resulting in blowout loss.

Author:
Eric Berniker
Publish date:
Jan 13, 2023 12:18 PM EST

In this story:

Everyone on Bobby Hurley's roster got involved building the Arizona State Sun Devils’ 46-29 halftime lead.

After scoring on their first three possessions what would have been a stop and an opportunity to push a 6-5 lead into a two-possession game early for Oregon was thwarted by Arizona State forward Devan Cambridge, who flew through the right side of the paint for a monstrous put-back dunk, giving the Sun Devils the lead and sparking a 25-9 run.

Later, Austin Nunez picked Jermaine Couisnard’s pocket before floating a pass to the trailing Cambridge for a thunderous jam, pushing the Sun Devil lead to ten midway through the half.

Arizona State shot 56% from the field in the first half, including 47% from beyond the arc.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, going 2-of-5 from three-point range. His dunking brother Devan had 11 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting.

DJ Horne and Austin Nunez combined for 16 in the first half, together shooting 4-of-7 from deep.

Oregon committed six turnovers in the first half, giving the Sun Devils seven points off turnovers.

Arizona State led by as many as 24 in the first half. With 4:02 left in the half, Will Richardson knocked down three consecutive three-pointers, cutting the Oregon deficit to 15 before Desmond Cambridge knocked down one final mid-range jumper to end the half.

Will Richardson pulls up for a shot against Arizona State.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Dana Altman is looking for answers with Oregon's full roster finally healthy.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

In the second half Desmond Cambridge continued to score with relative ease, dropping another nine en route to a 21-point showing.

Horne contributed 15 on 5-of-11 shooting, and Devan Cambridge also scored in double figures with 16 of his own on 6-of-9 shooting, while Warren Washington scored 10 of his own on perfect 3-of-3 shooting.

ASU guards Cambridge, Nunez and Horne were able to consistently get the Oregon defense rotating and the Sun Devils found open shots for their bigs, who when the Oregon defense collapsed subsequently kicked the ball back out for open threes.

The Oregon defense that had traditionally been great under Dana Altman looked sleepy-- as unchecked cutters were rewarded with uncontested shots.

ASU shot 48% in the second half and 41% from three on mostly wide-open looks.

For Oregon the offense was no treat to watch either. The Ducks seemed to lack intensity at the offensive end too.

Oregon's leading scorer and point guard Will Richardson on most possessions was forced to traverse over lackluster screens multiple times, looking for an opening to attack and often was met with double teams that the the Ducks failed to take advantage of, falling 90-73.

The good news for the Ducks is that they are now healthy.

When Oregon hosts No. 9 Arizona on Saturday, Dana Altman will have his complete roster at his disposal as the Ducks look to put Thursday's miserable performance behind them.

The Ducks, now 9-8 on the season, host Arizona Saturday afternoon.