Oregon men's basketball extends win streak with rout of Washington

A week after Oregon’s impressive road sweep of top-5 teams in Los Angeles, the Ducks made history again Sunday night.

Behind a relentless first-half performance and 21 points from Will Richardson, Oregon defeated Washington 84-56 in a Pac-12 men’s basketball game at Matthew Knight Arena.

The victory was the sixth straight for the Ducks (12-6, 5-2 Pac-12), and while it probably won’t resonate nationally like their wins against then-No. 3 UCLA and then-No. 5 USC — the first top-5 road sweep in the NCAA since the 1975-76 season — Sunday’s 28-point margin of victory was the most for Oregon against Washington in a rivalry that has been played 311 times, starting in 1904.

The previous best for the Ducks last came in a 65-40 win in 2018.

Related: Click here for a boxscore from Sunday's game

The Ducks have now won 121 of those games — including six straight — with none coming any easier than on Sunday.

Oregon dominated the first half as they shot 65.5% from the field, made eight 3-pointers, had 12 assists on 19 baskets and five steals.

“It was just one of those nights where things were clicking offensively for us, especially in that first half,” Oregon coach Dana Altman.

Washington (9-8, 4-3) didn’t even come close to matching that effort in the first half, as it made just four field goals, including 1-for-12 from the 3-point line. It also committed 14 turnovers that the Ducks were able to turn into 17 points.

It all led to a 48-13 lead at halftime for Oregon.

Related: Will Richardson is leading Oregon's surge

“We kind of had a sense of urgency,” said starting forward Quincy Guerrier, noting the Huskies came into the game winners of three straight and four of their last five.

The Ducks’ advantage grew to as many as 38 points in the second half, and never fewer than 24.

Richardson finished with his fourth 20-point game of the season as he made 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. He also had four assists.

Jacob Young and Quincy Guerrier scored 12 each for Oregon, which made 32-of-59 (54.2%) from the field overall. Its 16 assists were the most in seven games.

“I thought our ball movement was good, I thought we were looking to make shots for each other,” Altman said. “That’s going to be so important for us to be connected like that and making plays for each other.”

Oregon also held Washington’s Terrell Brown Jr. to 14 points on 3-of-16 shooting. Brown was leading the Pac-12 in scoring at 21.4 points per game.

It was an impressive performance by a team playing for the first time in eight days, thanks to its game last Thursday against Washington State being postponed due to the Cougars going into COVID-19 protocols.

“The guys were disappointed we didn’t play Thursday,” Altman said. “But I thought the guys handled it well. We’re kind of used to different things happening with our schedule because of the last couple of years. So I thought the guys handle it pretty well.”

Colorado up next

After two postponements, the Ducks and Buffaloes will finally play Tuesday as Oregon will have its second three-game week this month.

Colorado (12-6, 4-4) was originally scheduled at Matthew Knight Arena on Dec. 30 but had to pull out when it went into COVID-19 protocol. The reschedule for Jan. 3 was then postponed when Oregon had to go into COVID protocol.

The Ducks and Buffaloes look like two teams going in different directions. Oregon’s riding a win streak that has it looking like a postseason team. Colorado has lost three of four, though they were against Arizona, USC and UCLA — the three ranked teams in the conference. The Buffaloes' one win during that stretch was a rout of Arizona State, which beat the Ducks in overtime in December.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

Oregon vs. Colorado

Projected Oregon (12-6, 5-2 Pac-12) starters

De'Vion Harmon, 6-2, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg)

Will Richardson, 6-5, Sr. (14.8 ppg, 3.4 apg)

Jacob Young, 6-3, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg)

Quincy Guerrier, 6-8, Jr. (8.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

N'Faly Dante, 6-11, Jr. (8.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg)

Projected Colorado (12-6, 4-4) starters

Jabari Walker, 6-9, So. (13.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg)

Evan Battey, 6-8, Sr. (12.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

Keeshawn Barthelemy, 6-2, So. (10.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

Tristan de Silva, 6-9, So. (8.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

Elijah Parquet, 6-4, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg)

Time: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Matthew Knight Arena

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks/KUJZ-FM (95.3)

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon men's basketball extends win streak with rout of Washington Huskies