Ducks Clip Broncos, 79-71, Move to CBI Finals

box score

EUGENE, Ore. – Joevan Catron ’s third-straight double-double and hot shooting throughout the lineup propelled Oregon into the College Basketball Invitational Championship Series with a 79-71 win over Boise State at Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday.

The Ducks will face Creighton in the best-of-three championship series beginning next Monday. Click here for ticket and game information for the CBI championship.

Catron tied for the game-high with 24 points and led all players with 11 rebounds. The senior scored 20 points in the second half and made 12-of-14 free throws. E.J. Singler and Malcolm Armstead also scored in double figures with 18 and 10 points, respectively.

Oregon put on a torrid-shooting performance in the first half. Oregon shot 50 percent from the floor (13-of-26) and from three-point range (8-of-16). Singler led the onslaught with 13 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

An early 8-0 run put Boise State up, 11-7, four and a half minutes in. At that point, UO caught fire offensively and countered with a 16-4 spurt to go up 25-15 with 6:33 to go in the opening stanza.

BSU pulled within six points at 28-22 with 4:04 left on a Robert Arnold three-pointer. The Ducks answered in the form of treys by Singler and Nared to go up 11 with under two minutes remaining.

The UO lead was nine on the final possession of the first half and after a long-range miss, Garrett Sim tapped the ball to Jay-R Strowbridge , who rattled in a baseline jumper at the buzzer to send the Ducks in the locker room with a 38-27 lead.

Oregon opened the second half on an 11-2 run to grab its biggest lead of the evening at 49-29 with 15:47 to go. With the score 57-40 midway through the final half, Boise State embarked on a 19-9 run over the next seven minutes to pull to within seven points, 66-59, with 4:13 to play. The Broncos got withing six points with 1:19 to go off a pair of La’Shard Anderson free throws.

With the Broncos pressing defensively, Singler found Catron behind the defense for an easy layup to make it an eight point game. After a defensive stop, Catron once again got behind the BSU defense for an emphatic dunk that brought the crowd of 6,157 to its feet and clinch the win for the Ducks.

Oregon shot 50 percent from the field for the game and connected on 12-of-25 (48 percent) of its three-pointers. Boise state countered with 42.9 percent shooting and a 10-of-25 (40 percent) mark from long range. The Broncos held a 37-30 advantage on the glass and a 17-16 advantage in turnovers. The Ducks dished out 19 assists on their 26 field goals while the Broncos had 10 assists on 24 baskets.

The Ducks will face Creighton in the CBI Finals. Game one will be played at Creighton on Monday, March 21 at 5 p.m. PT (7 p.m. CT).