Oregon Basketball: Great March run over after close loss to Virginia

Oregon Basketball’s 10-game win streak and cinderella tournament run came to an end on Thursday night in a 53-49 loss to Virginia. The 12 seed Ducks hardly have reason to hang their heads for the way in which they lost.

From start to finish, the game was a half-court slugfest, a battle of two teams trying to figure out how to score against the other team’s defense. In the beginning, Oregon Basketball unsettled Virginia in the half-court by switching on every ball screen and giving it a lot of different looks. Virginia players often didn’t know whether they were attacking a man-to-man or a zone defense. As a result, they were forced to settle for tough shots–some inside the paint, but also many from behind the arc– and struggled occasionally to beat the shot clock.

In the full-court, the Ducks aggravated Virginia with their variety of full-court pressure tactics. To Virginia’s credit, the Cavaliers did not incur a single half-court violation or turnover off a full-court press. Still, Oregon’s pressure gave UVA fewer options in the half-court by forcing it to let time run off the shot-clock just by getting the ball across half-court.

In the half-court, the Ducks tried to use their length and intense on-ball pressure to bother Virginia’s guards. The Cavaliers were able to avoid turnovers partly by the strength of their ball-handlers, but mostly by the good communication and effort of their off-ball teammates, who did not fail to provide available outlets for pressured ball-handlers. Virginia only turned the ball over eight times.

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Virginia’s response to Oregon’s on-ball pressure was significantly positive because it helped to limit the number of Oregon’s transition opportunities. The Ducks wanted to open up the game and run to make baskets before the Cavaliers’ pack-line defense cold establish itself, but they found few opportunities to do so. They had only two fast break points. Overall, Oregon had 11 points off turnovers, whereas it had 25 of them in its second-round win over UC Irvine.

Oregon struggled to get open looks against Virginia’s half-court defense and Virginia led 10-7 after ten minutes. While Virginia struggled to score, at one time missing 15 of 16 shots, its half-court defense lost a little composure and started to foul a bit. After Oregon knocked down a couple of threes, it had what would be its largest lead of the day–16-10 with 6:18 left in the game.

But then Virginia went on a run. The Ducks’ defensive game plan included targeting Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy, while allowing De’Andre Hunter open jump-shot opportunities and encouraging freshman Kihei Clark to try to do whatever he wanted. During the latter stretch of the first half, Clark stepped up with some timely made shots and fantastic dribble penetration and interior passing to set up teammates for easy two-pointers.

Besides good inside passing, Virginia was excellent on the offensive glass to create second-chance scoring opportunities, leading Oregon 7-0 in offensive rebounds. At half-time, Virginia led 30-22. When all was said and done, Clark had the highest offensive rating among the Cavaliers, tying Ty Jerome by making three threes and accruing six assists.

The Ducks came out in the second half with tremendous energy. They worked to even out the rebounding disparity. As he has always done, point guard Payton Pritchard carried his team. His dribble penetration created open shooting opportunities for teammates. He also proved to be too quick inside for Virginia defenders to contain. He keeps himself low to the ground, while maintaining solid body control in order to finish at the rim even despite contact.

Pritchard willed Oregon into the lead and kept his team in the game down the stretch. He had help from Paul White and Louis King. Both combined for 6-for-13 from three. Pritchard finished with 11 points and four assists.

In the game’s final stretch, the Ducks could not continue to make baskets. On the other side, Ty Jerome stepped up for Virginia with a clutch three-pointer that gave it a 48-45 lead. Virginia hung on 53-49 to advance into the Elite 8 and send Oregon packing with its head held high.

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In sum, Oregon had a great run that few expected. Pritchard showed the world that he is a big-time player with the ability to dribble penetrate against elite defenses, to knock down important shots, to get his teammates involved without turning the ball over too often, and to play tight man-to-man defense and get steals. Coach Dana Altman did an amazing job regrouping this team after Bol Bol went down and giving it an identity that centered on a stifling defense that energized its offense and the all-around leadership of Pritchard.

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