Oregon and Stanford hope to ride the momentum of an impressive outing to a repeat performance Saturday night when they duel on the Cardinal’s home floor.
The Ducks (11-8, 5-3 Pac-12) strung together consecutive conference wins for the first time this season when they followed up an 87-68 home triumph over Arizona on Jan. 14 with an 87-58 victory at Cal on Wednesday. The 87 points set and then tied the club’s season-best output.
Oregon was dominant on both ends of the floor in Berkeley, Calif., holding the Golden Bears to 21 first-half points before exploding on offense for 53 in the second period en route to the lopsided win.
It was clear afterward which half was most impressive to coach Dana Altman.
“The guys really took the wind out of their sails just not giving up easy baskets,” Altman said. “Twenty-one points at half, I love that. I thought defensively we had a lot better energy and a lot better movement than what we’ve had.”
Will Richardson helped create a balanced offensive attack with 10 assists. He filled out his third double-double of the season with 11 points.
Wins haven’t come easily for the Ducks at Stanford. They have just five since 1986, and those were by just eight, four, three, two and three points.
The Cardinal (6-12, 1-7) prevailed in a tight one at home last season 72-69, with then-freshman Harrison Ingram contributing 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists to the cause.
Ingram had eight points, eight rebounds and six assists Thursday in the Cardinal’s dominant 67-46 home win over Oregon State, a result that ended a five-game losing streak.
Like Altman’s assessment of his team’s victory one night earlier, Stanford coach Jerod Haase credited his defense on a night when Oregon State shot just 34.1 percent.
“The No. 1 story for the game was defensively I thought we were able to really defend,” he said. “We were switching a lot of the ball screens and had a lot of cross-matches, but I thought our guys slid their feet well, challenged shots well and then we were able to rebound the basketball.”
Spencer Jones and Michael Jones paced the Cardinal with 18 points apiece.
–Field Level Media
