(11-7) Oregon’s struggles continue through early parts of conference play falling to 2-3 after losing to Sun Devils to end Arizona road trip.

Coming out of Tucson with the upset victory over the Wildcats, Oregon’s short-lived road trip began on a high note. Kenny Wooten Jr.’s return gave the Ducks a spark on defense and their effort against Arizona had them back on the right track, or so it seemed.

Led by Payton Pritchard and Paul White, Oregon had an answer for every bucket made by Arizona State’s aggressive offense in the first half. Pritchard and White were a combined 4-5 from deep in the half, including a buzzer-beating three by Pritchard as time expires to tie the game going into the second half.

The Ducks struggled to slow down Bobby Hurley’s offense, but were able to make up for their defensive lapses with timely and some-what fortunate three-point shooting.

Unlike the majority of games thus far by Oregon, the Ducks started out fast, rather than playing catch-up in the second half. White, who has become a go-to offensive threat for Oregon in the month of January averaging 15.6 PPG and 4.6 REB, hit 4-4 in the first half against ASU and looked to be picking up right where he left off.

The Ducks came out of the second half firing with an quick mid-range jumper by Louis King just 10 seconds into the game and a Pritchard three to give Oregon a 44-42 lead.

Oregon was able to stretch their lead to the largest of the night, 54-50, on a three by Louis King. The Ducks held the lead for nearly six minutes in the second half until the Sun Devils scored 19 unanswered buckets, going on a 22-2 run led by Remy Martin and Zylan Cheatham, with probably the highlight of the night posterizing Wooten Jr., just not for Ducks fans.

The only things that kept them in the game early on was three-point shooting, but as soon as their shooting went cold, Oregon had literally no answer for ASU on either end of the floor. The usual second-half hot hand was nearly non-existent and the deficit left nearly insurmountable.

Take-aways from the game:

• Second half struggles were real. Shot 9-35 (25.7%) from the field and 5-19 (26.3%).
• Nice to see Pritchard looking like his old self, not sure if it’s worth the lose however.
• Out rebounded ASU 38-31.
• ASU shot 51.0% from the field and 39.3% from deep.
• Oregon bench outscored by 13 (25-12).
• Victor Bailey 0-9 in the game.
• Ducks now 2-3 in conference play.
• 12-13 from the line.
• 15 turnovers for Oregon.
• Nearly four minutes of scoreless basketball for Ducks on Sun Devil’s 22-2 run.
• White cold in second half going 0-6 and 0-3 from three.

Oregon

*Payton Pritchard: (34 MIN) 20 PTS / 6 REB / 4 AST 5-12 FG / 4-9 3PT

*Francis Okoro: (17 MIN) 4 PTS / 3 REB / 0 AST 2-2 FG

*Louis King: (35 MIN) 16 PTS / 4 REB / 0 AST 6-18 FG / 3-8 3PT

*Paul White: (23 MIN) 12 PTS / 4 REB / 1 AST 4-10 FG / 2-5 3PT

*Victor Bailey Jr.: (26 MIN) 0 PTS / 0 REB / 3 AST 0-9 FG / 0-4 3PT

Kenny Wooten Jr.: (14 MIN) 0 PTS / 6 REB / 0 AST 0-0 FG

Will Richardson: (22 MIN) 4 PTS / 2 REB / 2 AST 2-7 FG / 0-3 3PT

Miles Norris: (11 MIN) 6 PTS / 3 REB / 0 AST 1-1 FG / 1-1 3PT

Ehab Amin: (18 MIN) 2 PTS / 2 REB / 1 AST 1-4 FG / 0-1 3PT

Arizona State

*Zylan Cheatham (33 MIN) 17 PTS / 9 REB / 1 AST 5-6 FG / 0-1 3PT

*Romello White (19 MIN) 5 PTS / 4 REB / 0 AST 2-3 FG

*Remy Martin (36 MIN) 11 PTS / 3 REB / 8 AST 4-10 FG / 1-3 PT

*Rob Edwards (28 MIN) 8 PTS / 2 REB / 0 AST 2-5 FG / 2-5 3PT

*Luguentz Dort (32 MIN) 12 PTS / 2 REB / 5 AST 4-10 FG / 2-6 3PT

Taeshon Cherry (22 MIN) 15 PTS / 1 REB / 1 AST 5-10 FG / 5-10 3PT

De’Quon Lake (6 MIN) 0 PTS / 1 REB / 0 AST 0-0 FG

Vitaliy Shibel (1 MIN) 0 PTS / 0 REB / 0 AST 0-0 FG

Kimani Lawrence (23 MIN) 10 PTS / 4 REB / 1 AST 3-5 FG / 1-3 3PT

Oregon’s next to face (14-4) Washington led by guard Jaylen Nowell (16.7 PPG) Thursday back at home in Eugene.

Follow Colt Johnson on Twitter @Barefoot_Sensei