Oregon men drop third straight with loss to Washington State

Oregon started its road swing against the Washington schools on Wednesday in Seattle knowing it had a chance to solidify its chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the Ducks lost an overtime game to the Huskies and then on Sunday extended their losing streak to three games with a 68-65 loss to Washington State at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

Oregon (15-13, 9-8 Pac-12) had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds but a 3-point attempt by Jermaine Couisnard was off target.

“Down one and they get three shots,” coach Dana Altman said on his postgame radio show. “They hold the ball way too long and we only get one shot coming down, just wasn’t what we wanted.”

Reserve guard Keeshawn Barthelemy led the Ducks with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Couisnard had 12 points and N’Faly Dante had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Oregon trailed 53-43 with 8:52 to play when Barthelemy sparked the Ducks’ rally.

The junior guard, who was 1-for-4 for two points in the first half, scored 12 during a four-minute stretch, including a free throw with 4:16 to play that gave the Ducks a 60-59 lead.

Washington State eventually got back up 66-62 before Barthelemy made a 3-pointer with 1:20 to go to make it 66-65.

The Cougars followed with a possession that lasted nearly a full minute as they grabbed offensive rebounds on two missed shots before Justin Powell drove in for a layup with 23 seconds to play to put Washington State up 68-65.

Oregon led 30-27 at halftime but after shooting 29% from the field in the first half, Washington State shot 58% in the second with seven 3-pointers as it took over the lead.

“Start of the second half we gave up way too many easy shots,” Altman said. “It kind of flipped on us again. … Start of the second half, just defensively, we had some really bad possessions and they kind of jumped on that.”

The Ducks are in sixth place in the Pac-12 standings but still remain just one game out of fourth place — and a bye in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament — with three games to play in the regular season.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

Up Next

Oregon at Oregon State

7 p.m., Saturday at Gill Coliseum, Corvallis. TV: Pac-12 Networks. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3)

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks defeated by Washington State for third straight loss