Texas Southern shocks No. 18 Oregon, 89-84
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Trayvon Reed scored 23 points and John Jones added 20 to help Texas Southern shock No. 18 Oregon with an 89-84 victory Monday night.
Reed, a 7-foot-2 senior, made all nine of his shots and also was 5-for-5 from the foul line for the Tigers (2-4), who were 24-point underdogs.
It was just the fourth nonconference loss at home for the Ducks since Matthew Knight Arena opened in 2011.
Jalyn Patterson had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists, and Derrick Bruce added 13 points for Texas Southern, which scored 57 points in the second half.
Oregon led by 13 points early in the second half before the Tigers rallied. Reed’s dunk with 9:59 left in the game capped a 23-8 run and gave the Tigers a 61-59 advantage. Bol Bol, the Ducks’ 7-2 freshman center, had 32 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double. He hit two free throws with 3:20 left to tie the game at 75.
Reed then scored four straight points to give the Tigers a 79-75 advantage with 2:18 left. Will Richardson hit two free throws 12 seconds later to get Oregon back within two.
Bruce had eight points in the final 1:11 to seal the win, including making all six of his free throws in the final 43 seconds.
Payton Pritchard had 14 points, and Will Richardson and Victor Bailey Jr. added 13 each for Oregon (4-2).
Bol scored Oregon’s first 10 points, including two 3-pointers, and had 16 by halftime with seven rebounds as the Ducks led 39-32.
Oregon received a scare with seven minutes left in the first half when forward Kenny Wooten crashed into the basket stanchion on a block attempt. The 6-foot-9 sophomore didn’t return and spent the second half on the bench with ice and a protective sleeve on his left knee.
BIG PICTURE
Former LSU coach Johnny Jones, in his first season at Texas Southern, has his Tigers playing 14 of their first 16 games away from Houston. They opened with a 72-69 win at Baylor before losing 104-67 to new-No. 1 Gonzaga.
Oregon’s strength of schedule takes more hits next month as only one of its seven opponents during December was among the others receiving votes in this week’s Top 25 poll. That’s Houston, with one point.
UP NEXT
Texas Southern plays its home opener against Huston-Tillotson, an NAIA member in Austin, Texas, on Thursday night after six road games to start the season.
Oregon goes to Houston on Saturday night for the first of only three true road games on the Ducks’ nonconference schedule.
