It was a good news/bad news day for the Oregon Ducks in their pair of Civil War hardwood match-ups on Saturday. In Corvallis, the men's team was throttled by the Beavers 62-42, snapping a two game winning streak, while the women ran past Oregon State 82-62 in the final Civil War match-up to be held at McArthur Court.
The Ducks were outscored 30-17 in the second half at Gill Coliseum and the Beavers claimed their first season sweep in the series since 1992-93 and the worst defeat for Oregon at the hands of Oregon State in 28 years.
Sophomores Matt Humphrey and Malcolm Armstead paced Oregon with 10 points apiece as the Ducks once again struggled in the face of the Beaver's 1-3-1 trapping zone defense, shooting a miserable 14-47 from the floor (29.8%) and committing 17 turnovers.
E.J. Singler's three point basket - Oregon made only two of their 17 attempts from behind the stripe - gave the Ducks a 19-18 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half, but the lead was short lived.
The Beaver's Omari Johnson responded in kind and the Beavers would not trail again. Johnson - a seldom used forward who was given a start to help solve Oregon State's shooting woes - came through with a team leading 18 points.
By the half, Oregon State was up by seven - then broke the game open with a 19-2 run midway through the second stanza.
With the loss Oregon's record fell to 4-6 in conference and 12-10 overall.
It was a better outcome in Eugene as Taylor Lilley's 23-point effort paced Oregon past Oregon State to complete their sweep of the Willamette Valley rivalry. Fellow senior Micaela Cocks added 18 points in the pair's last Civil War competition.
As had been the case a month earlier in Corvallis, Oregon's full court pressure gave the Beavers fits, forcing 29 turnovers and converting them into 35 points.
Oregon led from start to finish, building a 17-point margin at the half, and expanded their lead to as many as 24 points after the break, despite being out rebounded by a large margin, 49-28.
"I'm proud of our players," said head coach Paul Westhead. "I thought Oregon State tried to scramble and scrap as hard as they could. Eventually, I think our press forced too many turnovers for them and Taylor Lilley and Micaela Cocks made some timely baskets that kind of kept them out of range."
Oregon improved to 14-8 over all and 5-5 in conference with the victory. The Arizona schools are up next for the Ducks; the men head to the desert while the women host the Wildcats at 7:00 pm on Thursday followed by a 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon date with the Sun Devils.
