Huskies Lose to No. 8 Oregon in Overtime, 64-61.

Washington surrendered a commanding first half lead and the Ducks stormed back in the second half to force overtime and deal Washington a heartbreaking 64-61 loss. With 5 seconds left in overtime and a tie game at 61 all, Oregon’s Payton Pritchard stepped back and drained his sixth three-pointer of the game to secure Oregon’s victory on the road in Seattle.

Pritchard carried the Duck’s offensively, scoring 22 points, including the game winner. Chandler Lawson was the only other Duck to score in double digits with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

After Oregon pulled out to a quick 5-1 lead, Washington responded quickly with a three-pointer from Isaiah Stewart and an and-one by Jaden McDaniels to bring it to 7-6, Washington.

The Huskies played swarming defense in the first half, including six blocks from four different players. Naz Carter had a big time block with just under 12 minutes left in the first half.

With about 10 minutes left in the first half, Oregon went over 3 minutes without scoring. And with about 5 minutes left in the half Oregon had missed 9 of their last 11 shots. If it wasn’t for Pritchard, the first half would have been a blow out. Washington went into the half with a 37-25 lead.

The freshman from Portland, Marcus Tsohonis, had a big first half off the bench, including two three pointers and 12 points. He finished the night with 14 points.

Isaiah Stewart was the leading scorer for Washington and had one of the best games of his Washington career. He finished the game with 25 points, 19 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks. Other than Tsohonis, no other Huskies scored in double digits.

Neither team shot exceptionally well on the night, with Oregon shooting 34% and Washington shooting 31% from the floor.

Oregon switched to a full court press in the second half, and it led to multiple UW turnovers and helped to slow Washington’s scoring. Washington had 9 turnovers in the second half, many as a direct result of the pressure applied by Oregon.

Halfway through the second half, Washington was 2-9 from the floor, but managed to maintain a 10 point lead until just under 9 minutes were left. A mini 8-0 Oregon run helped the Ducks to close within 8 points with 7:39 left in the game. Washington’s scoring drought ended with 6 ¹⁄₂ minutes left on the clock, ending a 2-11 stretch of poor shooting. However, Oregon cut the lead to 3 points with a Lawson dunk with 4:31 left, capping off a 15-2 run for Oregon.

A Stewart and-one layup gave the Huskies a 6-point lead with about 4 minutes to go. The Huskies were bailed out on a following possession when an off-ball foul sent Stewart back to the line, where he made his first shot but missed the second. This was the biggest lead Washington would have over Oregon for the rest of the game, 54-47.

With just under 3 minutes left, Tsohonis was fouled but missed both free throws. Then, Oregon’s Lawson made a layup bringing the Ducks closer. 54-49, Washington. This was followed by a clear travel that wasn’t called on Pritchard, who was fouled right after and made both free throws to cut Washington’s lead back down to just 3 points. Washington fans were livid at the no-call.

Staying true to form, Pritchard then tied the game with 54 seconds left on a very, very deep three point shot.

On the following possession, what looked to be another Washington turnover was negated when Lawson fouled Stewart right below the basket and sent him back to the line with 34 seconds left. He sank both free throws to give Washington a 2-point lead, 56-54.

The Ducks were then able to tie the game at 56 with 17 seconds left after a Shakur Juiston lay up. Jamal Bey missed a deep jumper as time expired to send the game into overtime. Jusiton would foul out in overtime, but he finished the night with 8 points and 9 boards.

In overtime, Washington really struggled to make anything happen offensively, while Oregon took advantage of their opportunities. With one minute left, Pritchard hit an off balanced floater, giving Oregon a 61-59 lead. Their first since the opening minutes of the game.

Stewart was then fouled under the rim and hit both of his free throws to tie the game at 61 all with 40 seconds left.

Pritchard took another deep three-pointer, but finally missed this one. However, Oregon got the offensive rebound and called their final timeout with 21 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately for Washington, Pritchard didn’t miss his final three-pointer. Washington had one more chance with 3 seconds left, but RaeQuan Battle missed his three-point attempt, securing the road win for Oregon.

For most of this game it appeared as though Washington was going to pull off the upset and beat the No. 8 Ducks behind an incredible performance from Stewart. However, just like in the Stanford game, Washington couldn’t hold on to their lead in the second half and allowed Oregon to climb back into the game and steal what would have been a Tier A win. The Huskies are now 12-7 on the season and 2-4 in conference play.