Jermaine Couisnard joins Stephen Curry in NCAA Tournament record book

Jermaine Couisnard became the first player since 1988 to score 40 points and dish out five assists in an NCAA tournament game.

Just two weeks ago, this would be unthinkable.

Oregon was in Tucson, Ariz. busy getting blasted by the Wildcats and its NCAA tournament hopes were on life support and that’s being generous.

Flash forward to now and the Ducks are a brand new team that has figured out how to play defense. Oregon is on its way to the Round of 32 where Creighton awaits.

The defense might have been on point, but the offensive prowess of guard Jermaine Couisnard helped propel the Ducks to an 87-73 win over his former team, South Carolina. In Thursday’s game against the Gamecocks, Couisnard dropped a career-high 40 points in the win.

That point total put him in elite company in the NCAA history books, joining the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry, as the only player to do that in a win as a double-digit seed.

No matter what you did, ending up on a list with Stephen Curry is usually a pretty good thing.

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Photo Gallery: Ducks advance as Couisnard lights up former team

Photo Gallery: Ducks advance as Couisnard lights up former team

Everyone said Oregon was going to be a dangerous team heading into the NCAA tournament. But talk can be cheap if you can’t back it up.

The Ducks backed up all that talk.

Thanks to a March Madness school record 40 points from Jermaine Couisnard, Oregon advanced to the third round of the tournament with an 87-73 win over 6-seed South Carolina.

Couisnard, who played for the Gamecocks for three seasons before coming to Oregon, lit up his former team on 14-of-22 shooting from the field, including 5-of-9 from the three-point line.

Oregon, an 11-seed, will now face 3-seed Creighton on Saturday. The Bluejays are of course head coach Dana Altman’s former team. Creighton defeated Akron 77-60 earlier in the day.

Here are the best pictures from Oregon’s 14-point win.

Jermaine Couisnard breaks Oregon record with 40 points in Ducks’ big win

Oregon Ducks guard Jermaine Couisnard broke the program NCAA Tournament record with 40 points in an NCAA Tournament win over South Carolina.

The Oregon Ducks needed someone to step up in a major way if they wanted their magical postseason run to continue in March, and veteran guard Jermaine Couisnard answered the call.

On Thursday, in Oregon’s 87-73 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Couisnard poured in 40 points, breaking the Oregon program record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game.

The previous record of 33 points was held by Tajaun Porter, set in the 2007 Sweet Sixteen against UNLV.

Couisnard got his 40 points on 14-for-22 shooting, and he added 6 assists and 4 rebounds as well.

The former South Carolina Gamecock was not the only Duck with a massive game, as N’Faly Dante also tacked on 23 points on 7-for-9 shooting with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

The Ducks will now face off against the 3-seed Creighton Bluejays on Saturday in the second round of the tournament, leading head coach Dana Altman to meet his former team.

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MBB Recap: Oregon gets crushed down in the desert, giving up season-high 103 points

The Oregon Ducks fall to the Arizona Wildcats 83-103 on Saturday morning.

The Oregon Ducks lost to the Arizona Wildcats in their final road game of the Pac-12 season, and it was a game that was never close.

For a few minutes to start the game, the Ducks traded baskets with the Wildcats, but then Arizona quickly went on a run, and the Ducks lost control of the game. At the half, the Ducks were down 30-51.

In the second half, there were points where it looked like Oregon might crawl back, but the Wildcats always responded and re-extended their lead. Jermaine Cousinard came alive for the Ducks in the second half, scoring 33 second-half points on 75% shooting, but it wasn’t enough to give Oregon a chance to win.

N’Faly Dante had an injury scare in the second half after Jadrian Tracey fell on his ankle. Dante went to the locker room in visible pain, but he returned to the bench a few minutes later and finished the game for the Ducks.

MBB Recap: Oregon can’t overcome Washington State in the final minutes

The Oregon Ducks lost 62-56 on Saturday afternoon to the Washington State Cougars.

The Oregon Ducks lost 62-56 to the Washington State Cougars on Saturday afternoon. It was not a game they could afford to lose at this point in the season, and now a road to the NCAA Tournament is unlikely outside of a Pac-12 Tournament run.

The Ducks trailed for most of the game, but it was rarely by a large margin. Every time the Cougars went on a run, Oregon would respond with a run of their own. Down the stretch, however, the Ducks couldn’t get shots to fall, which allowed the Cougars to secure the win.

The dagger came with around 30 seconds to play. After a Jermaine Couisnard three-pointer, the Cougars drew a foul and went to the free throw line up 58-56. After Jaylen Wells of Washington State made his first shot and missed his second shot, the Ducks were unable to secure the rebound, Washington State grabbed the ball and drew another foul. This time, Myles Rice made both shots to seal the game.

MBB Recap: Oregon drops first home game of the year to Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats hand the Oregon Ducks their first home loss of the season on Saturday afternoon.

The Oregon Ducks lost their first home game of the season to the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats came into Saturday the No. 9 ranked team in the AP Poll, and they gave the Ducks problems on both ends of the floor.

At the end of the first half, Oregon went on a small run, capped off by a 50-foot buzzer-beater by Jermaine Couisnard, to cut Arizona’s lead to seven points. But in the second half, the Ducks were no match for the Wildcats defense and Arizona began to pull away.

A few minutes into the second half, Oregon guard Keeshawn Barthelemy went up for a lay-in, was fouled, and landed on his defender’s foot. Immediately, Barthelemy was clearly in immense pain, and he was unable to walk off the court on his own and was carried.

Next week, Oregon heads to Los Angeles to face off with USC and UCLA, as they try to regain first place in the Pac-12.

MBB Recap: Oregon blows by Arizona State to snap losing streak

The Oregon Ducks came back home strong after losing two games on the road. They beat Arizona State 80-61 on Thursday night.

The Oregon Ducks needed this win.

After picking up their first two losses of the Pac-12 season in just four days last week, the Ducks needed to bounce back and defend their home court, which is exactly what they did against Arizona State.

At first, it looked like the Ducks might lose their third straight. The Sun Devils led by 10 points at one point in the first half, but that lead was cut to 5 after the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Ducks were a different team. Oregon couldn’t miss a shot from the floor, and they tightened up their defense, leading them to a 19-point win. Here’s a look at how everything went down on Thursday night.

MBB Recap: The Ducks suffer a heartbreaking loss to Utah

The Utah Utes handed Oregon their second straight loss in a 77-80 game on Sunday.

On Sunday Afternoon, the Oregon Ducks suffered their second straight defeat of the season, this time to the Utah Utes. The score was tight throughout the game, with neither team able to gain a big advantage. The lead changed 15 times throughout the game, but the Utes hung on to win by 3 points at home.

With 30 seconds left in the game, the Ducks got the ball back down by one. Jermaine Couisnard drove to the hoop but was defended well and couldn’t finish. N’Faly Dante grabbed the rebound, but his put-back went in and out. After Utah snagged the rebound, Jadrian Tracey went for the ball and picked up his fifth foul, although the play could’ve been called a jump ball.

Oregon got the ball back down three, and Keeshawn Barthelemy was intentionally fouled. He made his first free throw and missed the second so that the Ducks could grab the rebound. Dante did get the rebound and was fouled while shooting. Unfortunately, Dante couldn’t make both free throws to tie, and the Utes won the game.

Below is a breakdown of the Ducks’ second loss of the Pac-12 season.

MBB Recap: Oregon shoots its way past Washington State

MBB Recap: Oregon shoots its way past Washington State 89-84 in Pullman.

No one is going to mistake this game for a defensive clinic.

Not by a long shot.

But it was long shots that propelled the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team to an 89-84 win at Washington State Saturday night. The Ducks are now 12-3 overall and 4-0 in league action after this road sweep of the Washington schools.

The Ducks shot an amazing 58 percent from the field (32-of-55) and 14-of-24 from three-point land (58 percent).

Oregon held the lead throughout the game and whenever the Cougars attempted to make a run, the Ducks would nail a three-pointer to end the momentum for the home team.

Jadrian Tracey’s three with less than a minute left gave the Ducks an 87-82 lead with 40 seconds left. While there was still plenty of time for WSU, that three as the shot clock was running down turned out to be the nail in the Cougars’ coffin.

Brennan Rigsby led the way with 18 points in just 20 minutes time on the floor. He was 4-of-5 from long distance.

MBB Recap: Oregon upends UCLA thanks to Shelstad’s big second half

Jackson Shelstad’s big second half propelled the Ducks past UCLA 64-59.

The pace was exactly what UCLA wanted.

Oregon was in foul trouble for most of the game.

UCLA held Oregon scoreless for nearly four minutes toward the end of the game.

The Ducks won anyway.

Oregon improved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play as it defeated the Bruins 64-59 in front of a raucous crowd inside Matthew Knight Arena.

Point guard Jackson Shelstad scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, including two free throws with 7.8 seconds that put the game away for the Ducks. He also hit a pair of threes that turned a five-point deficit into a one-point lead with about 10 minutes to go.

It was a battle of UCLA’s inside game against the Ducks’ outside shooting and fortunately for Oregon, it was 10-of-25 from three-point land and it was just enough to hold off the Bruins.