Couisnard scores 27, Oregon makes free throws in last minute to hold off Washington 85-80

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Jermaine Couisnard scored 27 points, including four of the seven free throws Oregon made in the last 32 seconds, and the Ducks held on to defeat Washington 85-80 on Thursday night.

The Huskies had cut a 20-point deficit to one with more than 3 1/2 minutes to go but every time they had a chance to tie or take the lead, Oregon came up with a big play on defense and made free throws. The Ducks had one basket in the final three minutes but made 9 of 12 from the line.

N’Faly Dante and Kwame Evans Jr. both had 15 points for the Ducks (16-8, 8-4 Pac-12 Conference) with Dante grabbing eight rebounds. Jadrian Tracey added 11 points.

Sahvir Wheeler had 16 points and seven assists for Washington 12-11, 4-8). Keion Brooks Jr. and Braxton Meah both had 15 points with Meah grabbing 10 rebounds. Moses Wood and Koren Johnson both scored 10.

The Huskies got back in the game by hitting five straight shots while Oregon missed nine straight before Tracey’s jumper made it 78-74 with 1:20 to play. Washington also had three turnovers in the last 2 1/2 minutes and although they made 2 of 5 shots, one of the misses was an airballed 3-pointer that could have tied it with 21 seconds to go.

Couisnard made two free throws at 18.9 seconds for an 81-76 lead and after Anthony Holland made a 3 for Washington, Couisnard made two more at 10.7 seconds.

Couisnard had 14 points and the opportunistic Ducks turned 10 turnovers into 17 points to take a 40-34 lead at halftime. After a couple of lead changes, Couisnard hit a 3-pointer and added a layup in a 9-0 run for a 15-9 lead. Tracey hit a pair of jumpers that gave Oregon a 31-19 lead.

Wilhelm Breidenbach had back-to-back layups to highlight a 10-2 run to cut the Huskies’ deficit to four with five minutes to go.

Couisnard had two of the four 3-pointers Oregon hit in less than nine minutes with Tracey’s 3 making it 61-44 with 11:26 to play. That three was part of a 10-2 run that pushed the lead to 66-46 when Dante completed a three-point play at 10:25.

The Huskies chipped away for five minutes, getting the deficit close to 10 and with just under 5 1/2 minutes left. Brooks had four points and Wood contributed two 3s, the second capping a 12-0 run in less than two minutes and Washington trailed 74-72 with 3:38 left.

The Huskies finished 4 of 21 from 3-point range and the Ducks were 8 of 24.

Washington State is at Oregon and Washington is at Oregon State on Saturday.

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