Oregon - as it had three nights earlier against California - used poise and experience in the game's latter moments to post a 71-66 victory over the Stanford Cardinal Sunday afternoon at McArthur Court.
Led by Maarty Leunen's 16 points the Ducks had four players reach double figures in scoring, including a very welcome 15 from sophomore guard Tajuan Porter who had seen his shooting touch falter over the past few weeks and who had been replaced in the starting line-up by Kamyron Brown three games earlier.
Stanford made it clear from the very start they intended on pounding the Ducks and for the first half that is exactly what they did. Seven foot center Brook Lopez hit for 20 of his team high 26 points before the break and seemingly did not take a shot from more than two feet away from the basket. That's a good way to shoot 58% - which is what the Cardinal did in the opening half.
Stanford managed a couple of three point leads in the game's first ten minutes, but as Leunen was able to pull Lopez out of the paint defensively to open the lane for Oregon, the Ducks fashioned a 32-22 lead with just over 6:30 remaining in the half.
The Cardinal - or more precisely Brook Lopez - struck back quickly; a dunk, a jumper in the paint and a tip-in by Lopez narrowed the margin to four in less than a minute.
Three points was the largest lead either team could build in the second half until Tajuan Porter hit two free throws with 0:27 left to give Oregon a four point cushion and effectively seal the win for the Ducks.
With Leunen fronting Lopez on defense and a more vigorous rotation from the weak side, the Ducks were able to limit Stanford's leading scorer to only six points in the second half.
Porter made his presence felt defensively in the game's deciding moments, grabbing a rebound following a Lopez miss then driving the lane for a lay-up to break a 53-all tie, then picking the pocket of Stanford's Anthony Goods to give the Ducks possession of the ball which allowed them to milk 30 seconds off the clock. Porter's jumper missed to end Oregon's possession, but again he came away with the rebound when Lopez was harassed into missing his jumper. Forced to foul, Stanford put Porter at the line and he was good for both charity tosses, giving the Ducks their first lead of more than three points.
Oregon pressured the Cardinal on the inbounds play and forced a turnover, then Bryce Taylor and Malik Hairston combined to go 4-4 from the charity stripe to end the game.
The Ducks shot 42% on 23-55 from the floor and were 19-26 from the free throw line. Their six turnovers were a season low.
"We did it with defense," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent. ".we made adjustments on defense at halftime, and I thought that was the difference in the ballgame."
"We talked about limiting his (Brook Lopez) touches because he's so big. We tried to keep the ball out of his hands and pressure the ball. We just helped out Maarty a little bit more"
"It was a physical game, but with shot blockers you have to attack them. There weren't a lot of fouls called. We did a great job of keeping our composure, especially late in the ballgame."
"We're in a pretty good rhythm, a pretty good groove right now. This is a veteran basketball team. If they play solid, they should be able to close out games."
"He (Lopez) played extremely well pretty much the whole game," said Leuenen. "We knew he'd get his points. There's no stopping him. I did my best, and he still got 26 points, but I'll take it as long as we got the victory."
After holding serve at home, the Ducks are now 3-1 in conference play (12-4 overall) and now head to Washington for a 6:00 pm Thursday match-up with the Huskies followed by a 5:00 pm Sunday showdown with the 8th ranked Cougars in Pullman. Oregon Sports Network will televise from Seattle, FoxSports will carry Sunday's tilt.
