Chris Boucher's big night leads Oregon over Arizona State 91-74

Following the large win on the road to start the week over Arizona, the Ducks were back on the road in Tempe against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Oregon looked to snag the win to take a full game lead in the Pac-12 conference.

The game started off looking like both teams had spent the last night on Mill Avenue with the offenses combining for zero points in the first two minutes. Chris Boucher finally broke the seal on the game with an and-one finish around the 17-minute mark.

Elgin Cook took over in the early going with a quick streak of a three pointer, steal and assist to Casey Benson. At the first timeout of the game, Oregon led 11-0 dominating the early going.

Bobby Hurley’s team finally got on the board with a dunk at the 15-minute mark. After a string of Oregon turnovers and missed shots the Ducks held on to a 16-11 lead at the under 12 minute timeout.

Thanks to a quick 9-0 run, Arizona State found themselves right back in the game. After another stretch of missed shots from Oregon the game was just a 20-18 differential at the under eight minute timeout.

With 7:06 left in the first half, Arizona State finally tied the game back up at 20 only to have Elgin Cook give the ball right back thanks to an offensive foul. Following the third three pointer of the night, Arizona State took their first lead at 23-22. Not much was going right for the Ducks at this point as Oregon missed seven of nine field goals.

The brief drought was finally broken thanks to another three from Boucher.  After a steal and a quick transition bucket the Ducks reclaimed the lead 27-26 heading into the last timeout of the first half.

At this point the Ducks couldn’t find a way to sneak back ahead, but Jordan Bell did his best in the paint with a few nice post moves. After a smooth sequence from Dillon Brooks the lead was reclaimed 34-33. With the teams trading three pointers the Ducks held onto a 37-36 halftime lead.

Boucher led the way for Oregon at half with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Obinna Oleka led Arizona State at the half with 10 points. The biggest difference in the half in getting the Sun Devils back in the game was arguably the 3-point shooting percentage where Oregon shot 33% but Arizona State shot at 46%.

Coming out of half it was the Ducks who had the momentum as they scored a quick seven points only to have the run broken by another three from Oleka. With a monster slam from Boucher the lead was pushed back to seven with around 17 to play.

Every time it seemed like the Ducks had a chance to pull away again, the Sun Devils seemingly hit a another three pointer on cue. With 14 left to play, the Sun Devils had 10 three pointers made.

After Arizona State cut the lead yet again to three the Ducks were in need for a response. Boucher answered immediately as he nailed back-to-back three pointers bringing his total for the game up to 23. At the under 12 timeout, Oregon held on to a 61-50 lead.

Out of the timeout the Sun Devils went ice cold hitting just two of eleven straight field goals. Following a Brooks layup, Oregon matched the largest lead of the game at 65-52 heading into the under eight minute timeout.

With less than six minutes to play the lead was back to under ten after a string of Oregon turnovers. However, thanks to quick attacking leading to free throws, Dorsey pushed the lead back to ten. The Ducks seemed to weather the storm and finally got Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley into a technical with five to play. At the last media timeout of the half the lead was extended back to 12 with the Ducks in control.

After back-to-back slams out of the timeout the Ducks claimed their largest lead of the night at 79-63. The game ended with no late surge from Arizona State as the Oregon defense held strong to claim a 91-74 victory. With the win, the Ducks have won four straight games to take their overall record to 18-4 and a conference record of 7-2. Next up Oregon will face Colorado at home on Thursday. Chris Boucher led the way for the Ducks as he racked up a career high 26 points along with 10 rebounds and 7 blocks.

Takeaways of the night.

Keep on rolling. The Ducks are no doubt in their best stretch of the season with the icing on the top being that five of the next seven games are coming at home. This team has hit their stride and look to be an incredibly confident bunch heading into the second half of the conference season.

The curtain of what? So much for that curtain of distraction that was so talked about after the Michael Phelps appearance earlier this week. Thanks to strong attacking play early and often in the second half the Ducks were at the line a bunch and finished 25 for 32 in the second half. What really stands out is how impressive this road sweep is, neither place is an easy one and after the early season road struggles this was fantastic to watch.

Oregon top performances:

Chris Boucher. 26 points (career high). 10 rebounds. 7 blocks.

Tyler Dorsey. 16 points. 7 rebounds. 4 assists.

Dillon Brooks. 18 points, 6 rebounds. 2 steals.