| 19 February 2011
Craig Robinson and his Oregon State Beavers needed to win the Civil War, but Oregon Ducks senior guard Jay-R Strowbridge made sure they wouldn't. On his 23rd birthday he managed to top his age, scoring a career-high 26 points in his team's desctruction of their in-state arch-rivals.
After Oregon pulled away early in their last meeting with a 25-4 run, reserve guards Strowbridge and Malcolm Armstead fueled a 20-2 first-half spurt to build an 17-point advantage. Strowbridge scored seven points and Armstead dished three assists during the run, but then the Beavers clawed back late in the first half, trimming the margin to 12 at intermission.
To climb back into contention, Oregon State managed to get in a groove offensively while benefiting from a cold finish to the half by the Ducks. But their boosted morale would soon wane. Oregon caught fire in the second half, overhwhelming the Beavers by scoring in bunches yet again on the backs of the two guards.
Armstead, as has been the case this season for the Ducks, continued to distribute while Strowbridge heated up.
The Beavers defense struggled to keep Armstead from driving and creating open looks, while also continuously failing to adequately close out on Strowbridge. Oregon State was within nine, 42-33, when the floodgates began to open. Armstead found Strowbridge for a jumper, breaking a field-goal drought of seven minutes, and with that they were off and running. Either through assists or field goals, the duo had a hand in the Ducks next 22 points.
Head coach Dana Altman, who puts so much emphasis on passing in practice, had to have liked what he saw from Armstead. The guard set everything in motion, orchestrating crisp ball movement and making sure Oregon worked inside and out. He had 13 assists. Strowbridge made six of them possible. And four of those came during the deciding second half run when Strowbridge put on an electrifying exhibition, hitting a pair of three-pointers off Armstead's unselfishness to send an already pumped up student section into a collective euphoric state.
The performances of Strowbridge and Armstead were so fitting, given how much they have progressed this season for a Ducks team that is now fourth in the Pac-10 conference. After gradually making more and more of an impact over the schedule, they dominated for the first time, taking their game up a couple of notches in the first matchup the Ducks have been favored to win this season.
To defeat Oregon State it was mentioned in the preview of this Civil War that Oregon's frontline would have to make a considerable impact. Forwards E.J. Singler and Joevan Catron did, combining to score 26 points and grab 13 rebounds. But the play of these two was not the storyline. The press deservedly goes to the other Ducks tandem, which tallied 35 points on 13-21 shooting, including 7-10 from three-point range, and compiled all those assists in disposing a Oregon State team left searching for more answers.
After leading the Ducks to another big win in the Pac-10, they will look to back it up against both Cal and Stanford at Matt Court next week.
photo: goducks
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