Ducks Dog Huskies In Beatdown

A hot start combined with a balanced attack spelled doom for Washington as the Oregon men handed the Huskies their worst loss of the season in the Ducks’ 82-57 win Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

Apart from the 0-0 score to begin the game, the Ducks and Huskies were never tied and the lead never change.

In fact, the game was never in doubt.

The game had expired only one minute and thirty-seconds, but that was all anyone in attendance at Matthew Knight Arena needed Thursday night to know the Huskies were in for a long one. The Ducks, err, Garrett Sim opened the contest hitting a baseline jumper and back-to-back threes in consecutive sequences to give Oregon a quick 8-0 lead that forced a timeout from Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, who undoubtedly felt things slipping away despite there being well over 38 minutes of game action remaining.

“We set the tone the first eight minutes of the game,” said Oregon head coach Dana Altman after his team’s win.

“Garrett [Sim] hitting those first shots really got [the crowd] in to the game...There was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of intensity in the building and that really helped us.”

Sim, along fellow Ducks E.J. Singler and Devoe Joseph, notched 13 points for the game; each point the result of a perfect 5-for-5 start from the field, while also contributing five first half assists. The blistering start was not only important for the team, but key for Sim, who was mired in a miniature slump the last three games as he suffered through a 6-for-27 shooting stretch before the Washington game.

“Garrett was disappointed in the way he shot the last few games,” said Altman. “He’s a competitor [though]. He got some good looks and he took them...That got him fired up.”

As a team, Oregon scorched the nets, particularly in the first half as they shot 64.3 percent from the field before “cooling off” to finish the game still shooting well over 50 percent (56.4%). Though Sim, Singler, and Joseph provided ample offense, it was the effort and production of Oregon junior forward Carlos Emory that headlined the Duck victory. His career-high 16 points and team-high (along with Singler) eight rebounds were underscored by a show-stopping windmill jam that put an exclamation point on Oregon’s win and accentuated the energy and hustle Emory can bring to his team.

“Carlos really gave us a big lift,” remarked Altman. “I thought he played good, I thought his focus was really good and his enthusiasm...He gets those breakaways and the crowd gets really excited.”

On Saturday, the Washington State Cougars roll in to Eugene eager to avenge their 92-75 loss in Spokane to the Ducks that opened Pac-12 Conference plays for both teams. Cougar center Brock Motum has only seemed to get better since conference play began, ranking among conference leaders in scoring (17.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg); undoubted making himself a primary focus for Altman and company come game two of the season series.

“We need to stop Brock Motum,” stated Singler as he looked ahead to Saturday’s game. “He’s been playing really well lately and scoring the ball really well.

‘We need the same passion and enthusiasm we had tonight in order to win against Washington State,” continued Singler. “We can play [well] like this if we have passion and enthusiasm.”

Tip-off against Washington State is set for 3:00 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena. No live telecast.

Follow Chris Courtney on Twitter at eDuckCCourtney