Takeaways from Oregon's men's basketball's thrilling win over the Washington Huskies
Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard aggressively went at one of the best players in the Pac-12 for the game-winning basket in the waning seconds as the Ducks rallied to beat Washington in Seattle.
Couisnard’s layup with 12.6 seconds gave Oregon a 76-74 victory in a Pac-12 men’s basketball game inside Alaska Airlines Arena Thursday night.
It was the fourth-straight win for the Ducks (11-3, 3-0 Pac-12), who trailed 36-30 at halftime but shot 60.7% in the second half and made four of their last five shots from the field to secure the win.
Their final basket came from Couisnard, who dribbled down the shot clock out beyond the 3-point line until driving on Washington’s 6-foot-7 forward Keion Brooks Jr.
Couisnard was able to get the right-handed layup over Brooks, sending the Oregon bench into a frenzy and quieting the crowd of 8,522.
Huskies’ guard Paul Mulcahy attempted a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner but the shot hit off the rim and Oregon’s Brennan Rigsby secured the rebound with less than a second to play.
Point guard Jackson Shelstad led the Ducks with 17 points, Couisnard had 16 points and eight rebounds, and forward Kwame Evans Jr. had 15 points and eight rebounds.
“It was a good effort. A lot of guys played well,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said during his KUJZ-FM postgame radio interview.
“Anytime you go on the road you gotta find a way to win and the guys did that,” he continued. “I’m pleased for the guys. They battled and found a way at the end, showed a little composure, made some free throws at the end. The guys found a way.”
The Ducks trailed 67-65 with 3:31 to play but free throws by Jadrian Tracey and a 3-pointer by Rigsby put Oregon on top 70-67.
A 3-pointer by Washington’s Koren Johnson made it 72-72 with 1:11 to go, Evans scored to put Oregon back on top and then Brooks made a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left as the Huskies again tied the score to set up the Ducks for Couisnard’s game-winner.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler had 18 points, and Brooks scored 16 with seven rebounds to lead five Huskies (8-6, 0-3) in double figures.
Lights out shooting after slow start
Oregon was shooting 27.3% (6-for-22) after the first 12 minutes of the game, but then made 7-of-12 to finish the half.
They carried that hot hand into the second half.
The Ducks were down 41-38 with 15:43 to play when they made nine straight shots from the field over the next five minutes to go up 58-51. Three of those baskets came from Couisnard, who had a jumper, a 3-pointer and a layup.
Shelstad was 7-of-11 from the field overall, Couisnard was 6-for-11 and Evans was 7-for-13.
Oregon also made 10-of-13 from the free-throw line, including six straight in the final 4:41 until Rigsby appeared to intentionally miss with .06 seconds left.
Oregon's Mookie Cook plays for first time
The blue-chip freshman forward made his college debut early in the second half and finished with four points, one rebound and one steal in six minutes.
Cook missed the Ducks' first 13 games as he recovered from an offseason ankle surgery — an injury that occurred during a high school all-star game before he arrived at Oregon.
Cook’s first basket was a two-handed dunk off a baseline pass from Couisnard at the 15:43 mark of the second half. It was the first basket in the stretch of nine-straight makes for Oregon.
“Mookie gave us a big lift,” Altman said. “He came in for six minutes and did a great job for us.”
Up next for Oregon
The Ducks head to Pullman for a 7 p.m. Saturday game against Washington State, which defeated Oregon State, 65-58, Thursday night.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Pac-12 men's basketball: Oregon beats Washington Huskies in Seattle
