Dec. 20, 2009

Box Score | Notes

EUGENE, Ore. - Despite picking up two fouls in the first four minutes and three in the first eight, junior Keith Benson scored 14 points, while sophomore Drew Maynard added 11 and junior Larry Wright tallied 10, but Oregon (6-4) used a big run in the second half and tallied 32 points off 13 Oakland University (6-6) turnovers to defeat the Golden Grizzlies for the first time in the series, 72-60, on Saturday night at McArthur Court.

"They've had this game circled for a long time," said assistant coach Saddi Washington who filled in for head coach Greg Kampe as he was ejected in the second half after receiving two technical fouls from the officials after a call against senior Derick Nelson. "With 10 minutes remaining we were tied and then we give up a two-point shot, and two run outs, and that blew it open. Up until that point I thought we were playing hard and really well, and then it just kind of got away from us."

OU shot just 32 percent in the game (17-52), while Oregon posted a 48 percent (28-59) shooting percentage. The Ducks also held a 38-31 advantage on the glass.

Nelson grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and moved into 15th all-time in Summit League history with 708. He added six points, while senior Johnathon Jones had seven points and four assists.

The Ducks' Michael Dunigan had a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Also in double figures for UO was Malcolm Armstead and Jeremy Jacob each with 12 points.

The story of the first half was foul trouble as the Ducks went right after Benson underneath and was able to get two fouls whistled on him just four minutes into the game as the score was tied 7-7. Oregon pushed the lead to nine points and were able to get a third foul called on Benson, but Jones led the Golden Grizzlies back to within five, 25-20, with just seven minutes left until halftime.

Oakland was able to slice the lead down to two points and had a chance to tie or take the lead with 40 seconds left in the half, but a cross-court pass was not handled by sophomore Blake Cushingberry and the Ducks got a big 3-pointer by Drew Wiley with 4.5 seconds left and took a 36-31 lead at the break.

The Grizzlies tied the game for the first time in the contest off free throws from Benson and Maynard to start a 5-0 run as the score moved to 44-44 with 9:36 on the game clock. The Ducks came out of a timeout on a 6-0 run to push the lead to six points, 50-44, to force OU to call a timeout of its own at 8:25.

The game was back within two points on two free throws from Benson, but once again the Ducks were able to force some turnovers and used a 16-0 run to gain their largest lead of the game at 18 points, 66-48, with 4:05 left in the game. That run proved to be too much for Oakland to overcome as the Ducks defeated the Golden Grizzlies for the first time.

The Golden Grizzlies will travel home for one day before heading out to Syracuse to face the fifth-ranked Orange (11-0) on Tuesday night inside the Carrier Dome. The game will air on OU's flagship station WDFN-AM (1130) and will tip at 7 p.m.

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