Win Streak Halted At Six
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon's win streak ended at six Tuesday night when the Ducks couldn't sustain a hot start and lost to Colorado at Matthew Knight Arena, 82-78.
After scoring the game's first 13 points, the UO men led by as much as 15 in the first half before the Buffaloes cut the lead to five at halftime, 42-37. Colorado took its first lead of the night at 62-61 with 9:22 to play and took the lead for good with a 7-0 run to go up 69-63.
"We started hot but then our activity really got down, our movement offensively," UO coach Dana Altman said. "But you score 78 at home, you should win. … They scored 45 points in the second half. Just really disappointed. We got outworked."
How It Happened: Soon on the heels of Sunday's record-setting win over Washington, Oregon came out hot Tuesday. The Ducks scored on their first seven possessions, including three-pointers from De'Vion Harmon, Will Richardson and Quincy Guerrier during a 13-0 run to open the game. The lead got as big as 15 at 20-5 on a three-point play by Guerrier.
From there Colorado began methodically chipping away, and the Buffs got within five at halftime, 42-37. Another three-pointer from Guerrier put Oregon up 55-46 in the second half, but a 9-0 run got Colorado into a tie at 57-57, and seven straight put the Buffs ahead 69-63. At that point the Ducks clawed back within 69-67, but Oregon followed with six straight empty possessions that included four turnovers.
"We had our chances," Altman said. "We just had poor possessions."
Down the stretch the Ducks forced three straight turnovers and got yet another three from Guerrier to close within 73-70. Baskets by Jacob Young and Harmon in the final minute again got the deficit to three, 77-74, but after Oregon forced a turnover in the backcourt Young couldn't get a midrange jumper to fall and Colorado held on.
Who Stood Out: Guerrier's trio of three-pointers helped him finish with a team-high 22 points and he also led the Ducks with six rebounds. Will Richardson scored 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, Harmon had 14 and Young added 11 with six steals.
What It Means: After a six-game winning streak that had Oregon in the conversation as an NCAA Tournament team and for the top 25, the Ducks took a step back Tuesday.
"The guys are down," Altman said. "We got outworked. They beat us on the boards by eight (30-22); second-chance points really killed us, 18-11. That was really the difference in the game. … I thought we had put some things together, but we got outworked."
Up Next: The Ducks host Oregon State on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN2).