This game was right there for the taking and an upset over No. 3 Houston was a real possibility. But Oregon never could find its three-point shooting prowess and the Cougars made them pay.
Houston came out with a 66-56 victory inside Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon coach Dana Altman is going to look at the stat sheet and his eyes are going directly to the three-point shooting line where his team was a dismal 3-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Even though they couldn’t find its range and seemingly nothing was going right, the Ducks never gave up and played the entire 40 minutes. They could have rolled over and called it a night with just under seven minutes left with the Cougars up 56-44, but the Ducks were able to manufacture a 12-2 run and with just 2:35 remaining, Oregon was down 60-54 and had the ball.
But a missed three and a made three for Houston on the other end sealed Oregon’s fate and the Ducks suffered their second loss on the season.