Texas Southern Pulls off the Upset over #18 Oregon, 89-84

Texas Southern almost upset Oregon last season in December, 74-68. This year, the Tigers got their revenge. Wooten didn’t play the second-half due to a knee injury and his absence was critical. The rim protection from him was deeply missed in this one. Plus, Bol Bol can’t be the only go-to scoring option. Someone else needs to step up in that second-half situation when you are down by 4 or 6 points with only a couple minutes left to play. I’m sure I have said this before but Louis King can’t come back soon enough.

Oregon Ducks:

(Starters)

Bol Bol - 32 Points, 11 Rebounds, 13-22 FG, 4-6 3PT (third career double-double)

Kenny Wooten - 0 Points

Paul White - 8 Points, 5 Assists

Ehab Amin - 0 Points, 0-2 FG

Payton Pritchard - 14 Points, 7 Assists, 5-11 FG, 4-8 3PT

(Reserves)

Abu Kigab - 2 Points, 4 Assists

Victor Bailey Jr. - 13 Points, 5-8 FG

Will Richardson - 13 Points, 5-7 FG

Francis Okoro - 2 Points

Texas Southern Tigers:

(Starters)

Jeremy Combs - 11 Points, 7 Rebounds

Devocio Butler - 6 Points

Trayvon Reed - 23 Points, 7 Rebounds, 9-9 FG

Jalyn Patterson - 13 Points, 11 Assists, 7 Rebounds

Cainan McClelland - 0 Points

(Reserves)

John Jones - 20 Points, 7-11 FG, 4-7 3PT

Tonight’s Observations:

• The Oregon full court press came in hot and early.
• Bol Bol was shooting three-pointers like he was Curry.
• Paul White is becoming more of a playmaker but was a no-show in the second-half.
• Texas Southern is very well-coached by Johnny Jones.
• Victor Bailey Jr. finds his best look in the three-point corner.
• Oregon lost the rebounding battle at the half, 23-18, and lost it at the end of the game, 41-32.
• Only 1 free throw attempt by the Ducks at halftime and it was a miss. Oregon finished 7-8 from the line.
• U of O shot 7-16 from three-point land (43.8%) after twenty minutes. Ducks fell to 11 for 31 (35.5%) after forty minutes.

• Payton Pritchard had a season-high 4 three-pointers.
• Texas Southern wasn’t missing from the beyond the arc in the second half (hit 11 straight field goals at one point), unlike the Ducks.
• Someone needed to close out against the coach’s son, John Jones.
• Bol Bol finished with a career-high 32 points but took some tough shots towards the end.
• Bol had a rough time guarding Reed off the pick-and-roll lob. Reed finished with 7 dunks.
• Pritchard didn’t look like a leader in that last minute. A key turnover from Payton handed the win over to the Tigers.
• Ducks continue to lack energy, especially on the defensive end and on the glass; It is becoming a repetitive issue each game and needs to be fixed before conference play.

Lets hope the Ducks can learn from this one and bounce back against the Cougars.

Next Game - #18 Oregon @ Houston (9:00 PM ET, ESPN2) on Saturday, December 1st

*Arden Cravalho is a senior at Gonzaga University... Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho