Oregon upsets Utah

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon not only got its 20th win on Sunday, the Ducks also got the kind of win they were missing all season.

The Ducks boosted their NCAA Tournament hopes with a 69-58 upset of ninth-ranked Utah in Pac-12 play at Matthew Knight Arena.

It was the Ducks’ first win this season over a team in the top 40 of the RPI rankings.

“We needed to beat a good team,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “No doubt about it. Now whether we can carry it on and make something out of it is the challenge. This is a big boost.”

Freshman forward Dillon Brooks led Oregon with 19 points and seven rebounds, and he scored 11 straight Oregon points down the stretch to lead the Ducks to the win. Guard Joseph Young added 14 points and forward Elgin Cook had 12 for Oregon.

The Ducks improved to 20-8 overall and remain third in the Pac-12 Conference at 10-5.

“Where this team has come from in the beginning to now, it is all the work we put in,” said Young, Oregon’s only returning starter this season. “We are still not done.”

Guard Delon Wright had 20 points and five assists to lead Utah, which fell to 21-5 overall and 11-3 in conference play.

“Our guys have been real good all year coming back to practice whether we win or lose, they always have a little bit of an edge,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “That might be one of the things that makes this team special, they are not complacent or satisfied. But human nature is that when you lose you do get their attention better, this is a humbling experience for our guys.”

Oregon outrebounded Utah 23-14 in the second half to finish with a 35-31 advantage on the boards. Utah had 11 of its 14 turnovers in the first half as it fell behind 32-27 at the break.

“I didn’t think we did a good job dealing with their pressure,” Krystkowiak said. “We had 11 turnovers in the first half and completely shot ourselves in the foot. You look at the stat sheet at halftime and it was identical, so how were we behind? Because they got seven more shots. If we had seven more shots and made two it would have been tied.”

Utah forward Brekkott Chapman converted a three-point play to get Utah within 45-44 with 10:39 left to play, but Young made a free throw and drove for a layup to push the lead to 48-44 with 8:49 remaining.

After center Jakob Poeltl made a free throw for Utah, Brooks made a jumper and a 3-pointer and added another short jumper to put Oregon ahead 55-45 with 4:55 left.

Wright hit a 3-pointer to get the Utes back within 59-55 with 2:17 to go. But Young added a 3-point shot with 1:49 to play and Cook added two free throws with 1:09 left as Oregon went ahead 64-55.

Utah started the game well. It took an early 7-2 lead when Wright hit a 3-pointer as Oregon missed six of its first seven shots from the field.

Utah went ahead 17-14 on a 3-pointer by guard Dakarai Tucker before Cook made two free throws for Oregon. Center Jeremy Olsen scored inside for Utah before guard Ahmaad Rorie tied the game for the Ducks at 19-19 on a 3-point shot with 7:32 left in the first half.

Oregon took its first lead when Young drove for a layup, and freshman guard Casey Benson then added a 3-pointer to put the Ducks ahead 24-19 with 4:52 left in the first half.

Oregon stretched the lead to 30-22 on a pair of free throws by Cook with 1:31 left in the first half, but Chapman scored for Utah and Utes guard Brandon Taylor added a 3-pointer to get the Utes within 30-27 before Young made a jumper that put the Ducks ahead 32-27 at halftime.

NOTES: Oregon and Utah had not played since last year’s conference opener on Jan. 2. … Oregon honored its football team, which beat Florida State in the Rose Bowl and lost in the College Football Playoff championship game to Ohio State, at halftime and Marcus Mariota’s