Oregon’s Six-Game Win Streak Broken in Nail-Biting 82-78 Loss to Colorado

It went all the way down to the wire, but Jabari Walker and the Buffaloes took down the red-hot Ducks.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Jan 26, 2022 12:54 AM EST

First Half

Oregon wasted no time getting started. The first two possessions saw three-pointers from starting guards De’Vion Harmon and Will Richardson. Jacob Young added his patented floater, and N’Faly Dante added his patented two-handed slam to give the Ducks a 10-0 start and to force a Colorado timeout.

The timeout only postponed more Duck dominance, as Quincy Guerrier continued his strong run of play by spotting up in the corner for the three to put the Ducks up 13-0. Big Franck Kepnang showed off his Hakeem Olajuwon-esque dream shake, much to the pleasure of the Oregon faithful.

The Buffaloes quickly showed that they weren’t going down that easy. Colorado's talented frontcourt of Jabari Walker and Tristan da Silva each grabbed five quick points after the Ducks lead 20-5 to get things under control before Oregon started another blowout.

Oregon got some good work early from its bench unit. Eric Williams Jr. knocked down a three-pointer from the wing, and Rivaldo Soares finished off an acrobatic layup to give the Ducks a 30-17 lead after 11 minutes of play.

All of a sudden, the fast-paced offensive battle turned sloppy. Neither team made a bucket for two minutes straight until Colorado’s K.J. Simpson knocked down a three from the top of the key. During the cold streak, Colorado did a great job clogging the paint so that Oregon’s dribble-drive offense had nowhere to go.

The Ducks picked up the slack on defense. They forced two quick turnovers, including one from the Dana Altman full-court press that led to an easy Guerrier layup to make it 35-26 Oregon.

Still, the Buffaloes stayed resilient. They got back-to-back threes from Simpson and da Silva, and ended the half hitting five of their last six field goals. Oregon took a 42-37 lead into the locker room, where an audibly-unhappy Altman awaited the team. Guerrier led all scorers with 12 points after the first 20 minutes.

Oregon MBB vs Colorado

Second Half

The offenses ran the show to kick off the second half. The two teams combined for 11-14 field goal shooting in the first four minutes of the half, with each team hitting five straight field goals. Guerrier continued to show out with seven more points in that time, propelling the Ducks to a 55-48 lead.

Then out of nowhere, the Buffaloes grabbed the momentum. They went on a furious 9-0 run to tie the game. It started with a few nice lay-ins from Walker, and da Silva capped off the run with a strong and-1 to tie the game at 57.

The offenses traded buckets for a few possessions, but Colorado broke off another 7-0 run to go up 69-63 with 7:19 left.

Matthew Knight Arena never gave up on the Ducks. The fans’ infectious energy leaked onto the court, as Young grabbed a layup on one side and forced a jump ball on the other.

The final minutes of play were frantic. Guerrier came up big with another three to cut the lead to three, but da Silva’s pull-up jumper and some missed Ducks free throws all but finished Oregon’s comeback bid. The Buffaloes would go on to win 82-78, with Walker leading the scoresheet at 23 points.

Oregon falls to 12-7 and 5-3 in Pac-12 play, snapping its six-game winning streak. The Buffaloes improve to 13-6 and 5-4 in conference play with their first win at Matthew Knight Arena since 2013.

Next up for the Ducks is a Saturday night matchup against the struggling Oregon State Beavers (3-14, 1-6 Pac-12) at 7:00 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks are looking for the sweep of the Beavers for the first time since 2016-17, as they knocked off their in-state rivals in Corvallis on Jan. 10.

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