Following a lackluster first half, the Oregon Ducks scared the you-know-what out of No. 10 Missouri before falling to the Tigers 83-80 Thursday evening at Mac Court.
Johnathan Loyd's 35-footer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime was short and the team from the Big XII escaped with their sixth win of the year.
The Tigers defeated the Ducks by 37 points last season and at halftime, it looked like a repeat performance. Missouri led 44-24. The Tiger shot 64 percent in the first half and had five blocks.
Oregon was smaller, slower and was shooting a lowly 23 percent.
"I was disappointed with how we approached the guys," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "It was just as much my fault as it was theirs. We did a great job battling in the second half."
Not only did Oregon battle, the Ducks nearly won the game.
The Ducks went on a 17-5 run to begin the second half to pull back into the game and to awaken the Mac Court faithful. E.J. Singler nailed a three with 13:30 remaining to give Oregon hope.
"I was proud of their second half but I was equally disappointed with their first half. We've been a second half team, but we have to turn that around," Altman said.
Joevan Catron hit one of two free throws to pull the Ducks to four at 78-74 with 38 seconds ticks remaining. Two free throws by Missouri's Michael Dizon kept the game at two possessions with 29 seconds left.
After swinging the ball around, the Ducks found Loyd on the left wing as he buried a three to cut the lead in half with 19 seconds left. Oregon had to foul quickly and hacked Dixon, who made two more shots from the charity stripe.
The Ducks hurried down the floor and Loyd hit another long bomb with 12 seconds left and cut the lead to 82-80.
Garrett Sim was forced to foul Matt Pressey, hoping he would miss one or even both free throws. Pressey obliged by missing the second shot. Loyd grabbed the ball and, crossing mid-court and let it fly and it was just short.
"We need to have a passion and sense of urgency like we did in the second half," said Jay-R Strowbridge. "If we played like we did in the second half we could compete and win against anyone in the country. Our press is working and we can learn from this game and work to get better."
Singler, who scored just two points in the first half, wound up with a career-high 19 points.
"We settled down in the second half. We were rushing in the first half and we were not playing as a team," he said. "In the second half we executed well and played as a team. I'm happy with how we played in the second half, but mad about the first half.
"After this game we (the team) weren't happy in the locker room to lose by three, it was a hard loss. We just have to learn and move on and have a sense of urgency on Sunday against Portland State (Sunday). This team doesn't like to lose. We have so much pride and love for this game."
