N’Faly Dante's dunk lifts Oregon past Oregon State in thriller

Field Level Media|published: Sun Feb 18 2024 05:48
Oregon head coach Dana Altman yells to his team as the Oregon Ducks host the Washington Huskies Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. credits: Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

N'Faly Dante's dunk with one second left, after Brennan Rigsby kept the possession alive with two offensive rebounds, gave Oregon a 60-58 win over in-state rival Oregon State on Saturday night in Corvallis, Ore.

Dante scored 22 points and was dominant inside, helping the Ducks hold off a late rally. The Beavers went on a 7-0 run to tie the score at 58 with 40 seconds left but Chol Marial's half-court shot at the buzzer was off-target.

Jackson Shelstad added 15 points and Jermaine Couisnard chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds as the Ducks (17-8, 9-5 Pac-12) handed the Beavers a sixth straight loss overall and in the series between the two teams.

Michael Rataj had 17 points and nine rebounds for Oregon State (11-15, 3-12). Jordan Pope, who leads the Beavers in scoring this season, had two game-tying free throws with 40 seconds left as part of his 10 points, but he made just 4 of 17 shots from the floor.

Oregon State held a two-point lead, its largest of the first half, when Tyler Bilodeau made it 17-15 with a jumper at the 11:26 mark. The Ducks responded with an 11-0 run to take a 26-17 lead. Shelstad scored five of his 11 first-half points during the spurt.

Oregon scored the final seven points of the first half to take its largest lead before the break. Cousinard scored five during the run, including a driving layup with 48 seconds left to give the Ducks a 36-24 halftime lead.

Oregon went ahead 41-30 on a dunk by Dante and Shelstad followed with a pull-up jumper.

The Beavers trimmed the deficit to seven points before Dante made an off-balance short bank shot while being fouled to give the Ducks a 48-38 lead with

8:06 to play.

Oregon won despite shooting 2 of 19 from beyond the arc while Oregon State was 2 of 18 from 3-point range.

The Ducks outrebounded the Beavers 40-30 and outscored them 44-28 in the paint.

—Field Level Media

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