Evan Battey and Jabari Walker each recorded a double-double and Colorado had four players score in double figures in an 80-69 win over Oregon in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Battey had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Walker chipped in 18 points and a career-high 16 boards for the fourth-seeded Buffaloes (21-10), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the third time in four years.
They will return on Friday night to meet top-seeded Arizona (29-3), which posted an 84-80 win over Stanford. Colorado split with the Wildcats during the regular season, with the Buffaloes recording a 79-63 win in Boulder on Feb. 26.
The fifth-seeded Ducks (19-14) were playing their third straight game without leading scorer Will Richardson, who did not travel to the tournament due to a non-COVID illness. Helping fill the void was Syracuse transfer Quincy Guerrier, who had a season-high 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Guerrier and Jacob Young (18 points) had 15 of Oregon’s 24 field goals, with the other six players going 9 of 33 from the field. The Ducks shot 34.3 percent from the floor, including 27.8 percent in the first half.
Colorado led 36-30 at intermission and maintained that edge throughout the second half. Oregon got within 44-43 with 14:31 left on a Young layup, only to see Colorado score six of the next eight points.
The Ducks trailed 56-54 after Young hit a 3-pointer with 8:49 to go, yet the Buffaloes followed with seven of the next nine points after Walker’s three-point play.
Walker drained a 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining as part of a 7-0 Colorado run to put it up 13 with three minutes to go.
Oregon built a seven-point lead with just over six minutes left in the first half but then went cold, missing 10 straight shots. Colorado capitalized, going on a 12-0 run to lead 30-25 with 2:47 to go before halftime, a run that saw five different Buffaloes score.
Battey and Luke O’Brien each drained a 3-pointer to enable Colorado to hold a six-point lead at the break after outscoring the Ducks 18-5 over the final 5:40.
Oregon likely is headed for an NIT bid at best after notching its 14th loss in a season for the first time since Dana Altman’s first campaign in 2010-11.
–Field Level Media
