Field Level Media
Mar 11, 2021
Top-seeded Oregon took care of business in the first game of the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 tournament Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas, ending Arizona State's brief time in the tourney with a 91-73 win.
LJ Figueroa scored a season-high 21 points to lead the Pac-12 regular season champions to their 20th win of the season. Figueroa's 3-pointer out of the corner gave the Ducks an 82-60 lead with 3:53 to play, and he tallied in double figures for the eighth straight game.
Will Richardson added 17 points and nine assists, and Eugene Omoruyi scored 15 points. Oregon's bench chipped in 28 points as the Ducks (20-5) won their sixth straight game and 11th of their last 12.
Alonzo Verge Jr.'s 28 points led the Sun Devils. Senior Remy Martin, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, finished with 16 points in what was possibly his final game after four years in the program. The Ducks, who moved to 5-0 against Arizona State (11-14) in conference tournament games, will oppose Oregon State on Friday in the semifinals.
The Beavers beat UCLA 83-79 on Thursday.
After a close first half, the Ducks put distance between themselves and the Sun Devils early in the second half, taking a 14-point lead on Chandler Lawson's short jumper to make the score 54-40 with 11:38 to go.
Lawson had a season-high 10 points off the bench as Oregon took an 18-point lead.
The Sun Devils lost forward Kimani Lawrence with 13 minutes to play when Lawrence hustled down the court to try to block a breakaway layup from Richardson and injured his hamstring. Lawrence had to be helped off the court and finished with five points and six rebounds.
The Ducks couldn't completely put away the Sun Devils until the final eight minutes, but maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half with good shooting. Dunks on consecutive possessions by Omoruyi and Figueroa gave Oregon a 70-54 lead with 7:09 to play.
--Field Level Media