Oregon vs. Washington recap: Johnathan Loyd comes up big down the stretch as the Ducks dump the Huskies

Johnathan Loyd scored all of his 11 points in the second half, including a step-back jumper at the shot clock buzzer to stymie Washington's final run, and the Ducks built some positive momentum by defeating the Huskies 65-52 in Seattle.

Oregon, still without point guard Dominic Artis, finally got off to a positive offensive start, sprinting out to an early 7-0 lead. Washington would come back and keep the game competitive, though they struggled to put the ball in the basket throughout the game. The Ducks shot 57% in the first half while UW hovered in the 30s. However, while the Ducks finally looked good offensively, their defense and rebounding let them down. As bad as Washington's shooting was throughout the game, it was only abysmal Oregon rebounding, leading to second chance points, as well as being beaten on multiple backdoor cuts that kept the Huskies in the game. E.J. Singler hit a running three at the buzzer, but didn't quite get it off in time and the Ducks would have to settle for a six-point halftime lead.

Washington would cut the deficit to three in the second half, but every time the Huskies made a serious charge, the Ducks responded. The biggest contribution was by Johnathan Loyd, who broke Washingotn's final two runs with a corner three and a step-back jumper at the shot clock buzzer. He then put the nail in the coffin with a driving layup to push Oregon's lead to 11 with two minutes to go.

Washington out-rebounded Oregon by six and got up 11 more shots, but the Ducks shot 49% to UW's 35%, and also had a four point edge from the free throw line. Most importantly, the Ducks only had nine turnovers, after committing 23 against this same team three weeks ago. That is the easily the best mark since Artis went out with injury.

Damyean Dotson led Oregon with 13 points, while Loyd, E.J. Singler, and Arsalan Kazemi pitched in 11. Abdul Gaddy led the Huskies with 17, but C.J. Wilcox and Scott Suggs combined for 4-19 from the field, a big factor in Oregon's victory.

The win is Oregon's second in a row, and evens up their record to 3-3 since the Artis injury. The Ducks now turn their attention to the health of Loyd, who left the same after suffering what appeared to be a knee or ankle injury as Washington was fouling late to extend the game. While the injury looked bad on TV, Loyd went to the bench under his own power, and was walking to team huddles on subsequent timeouts. This would seem to bode well for his availability against Washington State. If Loyd can't go, there aren't really any point guards left on the roster.

While there are things that need improved, this was easily Oregon's best effort in the last three weeks. It also marks Oregon's 20th win on the season, the third year in a row the Ducks have achieved that mark. Its also the first sweep of Washington since 1995, which is always a great thing.