By Tim Booth / Associated Press
SEATTLE — Payton Pritchard scored 16 points, Paul White added 10 and Oregon ended Washington’s chance at a perfect home record with a 55-47 win on Saturday night to close out the Pac-12 regular season.
Oregon (19-12, 10-8 Pac-12) won its final four conference games and forced Washington into a miserable night on the offensive end. Washington scored a season-low in points and lost for the first time at home after 15 straight wins, ruining senior night for the Huskies’ four seniors largely responsible for the turnaround of the program.
Washington (24-7, 15-3) will still have the No. 1 seed for the Pac-12 tournament next week in Las Vegas, but can’t afford an early exit with the tenuous NCAA tournament hopes of all the Pac-12 teams.
But Oregon earned this victory and never trailed after Matisse Thybulle’s 3-pointer in the opening minute. The Ducks led by as many as 16 in the first half, and withstood every run by the Huskies. Washington shot 21.7 percent in the first half and finished just 3 of 20 from 3-point range, matching its season low for 3s made.
White was part of an Oregon attack that dominated the interior in the first half and for the game outscored Washington 32-26 in the paint.
Jaylen Nowell led Washington with 17 points and Noah Dickerson added 14 points and 16 rebounds. Francis Okoro had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks.
Washington was within 37-34 after Nahziah Carter’s 3-point play, which also drew a fourth foul on White. But the Ducks scored six straight points, on back-to-back 3-point plays. Miles Norris rebounded Pritchard’s desperation 3 and scored while being fouled. Pritchard added a steal and layup and his 3-point play pushed Oregon’s lead to 43-34 with 9:08 left.
Washington pulled within 43-40, but Pritchard hit his third 3-pointer and Louis King’s tipin extended Oregon’s lead to eight with five minutes left.
Washington had one final spurt, pulling within 48-44 but two free throws from Pritchard and a desperation 3-pointer by King as the shot clock expired gave Oregon enough cushion.
The Ducks outscored Washington 20-6 on points in the paint in the first half. But Oregon will need to be better from 3-point range in the Pac-12 tournament. Oregon was 1 of 12 on 3s in the first half and 4 of 22 for the game.
After all the festivities of senior night — including former Washington star Dejounte Murray returning to see the senior class he entered school with — the Huskies scored a season-low 18 first-half points. Following Thybulle’s first 3 just 34 seconds in, Washington missed 17 of its next 19 shots.
Thybulle finished with five steals to match the Pac-12 single-season record of 110 held by Jason Kidd.
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