Quack Fix: Reviewing Stanford, Week 11 in College Basketball

Basketball Roundup

• No. 11 Oregon (18-2, 7- 0) continues to create its own history. The Ducks beat the Stanford Cardinal in front of a sold-out crowd at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday, 69-52, to break a 104-year-old program record with their 16th straight win. UO has now won 38 games in a row at MKA, marking the second longest active streak in the country behind Kansas. Four of UO’s five starters reached double-digit scoring in the absence of Dillon Brooks, who sprained his foot during the Ducks’ 86-63 win over California on Thursday.

• A look at next week’s opponents — Utah (14-5, 5-2) and Colorado (10-10, 0-7). The Utes have been flying high, sweeping Washington State (10-9, 3-4) and Washington (9-10, 2-5) on the road by an average of 31.5 points. The Buffaloes have done just the opposite, falling in overtime twice in the Evergreen State. On Wednesday, UW’s Markelle Fultz poured in a career-high 37 points, David Crisp drained the go-ahead three, and the Huskies beat the Buffs, 85-83. History repeated itself three days later, as WSU’s Charles Callison scored a career-best 30 points, Ike Iroegbu flipped in the game-winning floater, and the Cougars edged Colorado, 91-89, to snap a four-game skid.

Oregon hits the road for a pair of games, playing at Utah on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. PT and Colorado on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PT.

• Around the rest of the Pac-12: No. 14 Arizona (18-2, 7-0) had one of the more interesting weeks in college basketball. The Wildcats nearly blew a 23-point lead at USC (16-4, 3-4) on Thursday, but held on for a 73-66 win instead. Two days later, they knocked off No. 3 UCLA (19-2, 6-2) to win their 12th straight, 96-85. Allonzo Trier may have stolen the headlines, making his season debut following a PED-related suspension, but Kobi Simmons stole the show, totaling 20 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats… Oregon State (4-16, 0-7) continues to slide down the cellar, dropping games against Stanford (11-9, 3-5) and Cal (14-6, 5-3) to remain utterly beaten in conference play. At least the Beavers can take solace knowing they’re not Rutgers — oh wait. Nevermind.
• Across the country: No. 9 UNC topped Syracuse on Monday, 85-68, and with that, Roy Williams became the fifth active coach to earn 800 wins, joining Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Rollie Massimino and Bob Huggins. The Tar Heels went on to beat Boston College on Saturday, 90-82, giving my spirit animal human an 801-212 career record.

• You could say Siena’s game against Rider on Tuesday got pretty heated, but coach Jimmy Patsos responded in the best way possible.

• Indiana has endured a up-and-down season to say the least — how do the Hoosiers beat Duke and UNC, but fall to Fort Wayne and Nebraska? They hit a wall with the start of B1G play, but pulled out a much-needed win over Penn State on Thursday, thanks to James Blackmon Jr.’s game-winning triple, 78-75. Three days later, Blackmon matched his career-high with 33 points to help the Hoosiers beat a struggling Michigan State team, 82-75, in their first true game without lottery pick OG Anunoby, who’s “out indefinitely” after injuring his knee against the Nittany Lions.

• We’re about two-thirds of the way through the regular season, and the injury bug has started to bite. No. 7 Creighton bested No. 22 Xavier on Monday, 72-67, after losing Mo Watson to a season-ending injury in the first half. In the Bluejays’ first true game without their All-American point guard, they fell at home to Marquette on Saturday, 102-94. Tough blow… Louisville guard Quentin Snider — you may best remember him going off against Kentucky to hand the Wildcats their second loss of the season in December — is expected to miss 2-3 weeks after injuring his hip in a win over Duke on Jan. 14. The 12th-ranked Cardinals have gone 1-1 since then, throttling Clemson on Thursday, 92-60, before falling at No. 10 Florida State two days later, 73-68.
• No. 5 Kentucky continues to blow the rest of the SEC out of the water — even without freshman stud De’Aaron Fox, who rolled his right ankle in the first half of Saturday’s 85-69 win over No. 24 South Carolina. The point guard returned later in the game with a walking boot, and coach John Calipari has since said it could just be a “stinger.”

• For your entertainment, peep this high schooler’s Hail Mary, buzzer-beating basket:

Kid’s got an arm! Heard Washington might be in the market for a new quarterback — and a new outfielder for that matter!

• In other news, No. 4 Gonzaga remains undefeated after plowing a depleted Portland team on Saturday, 73-52. 19-0, baby! 19-0! Too bad nobody seems to notice.

All Things Ducks

• UO suspended its strength and conditioning coach for a month without pay on Tuesday after three football players were hospitalized following intense conditioning workouts. The players have since been released. In lighter football news, the Pac-12 released the 2017 schedule! (Tough draw for the Trojans — no bye week for the first time since 1995!)

• Women’s basketball (13-6, 3-4) picked up its third win in four games, beating Colorado on Thursday, 71-66. The Ducks have trailed at the half in every Pac-12 game they’ve played so far this season. Freshman Ruthy Hebard helped UO get back on track, finishing with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

Is it me, or are these Quack Fixes getting longer and longer? Kind of defeats the purpose of a QF, huh? Oh well. Let me know what I missed in the comments... Before I say goodbye, say hello to HI-LIGHTS!