An impressive first half didn't translate to the second half.
 
The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team led defending Pac-12 Conference champion Oregon for better than eight minutes in the first half, but was out-scored 33-20 after intermission en route to a 69-52 loss on Monday (Dec. 7) at the Mathew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.. The game was a hastily-scheduled replacement of a Nov. 25 game originally postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Eastern was shooting at a 56 percent clip 10 minutes into the game and led by six, but struggled after that. Eastern made just 27 percent of its shots in the second half to finish at 33 percent for the game, while the Ducks sank 44 percent from the field. After the fast start, Eastern made only 24 percent and an 11-2 run by the Ducks early in the second half proved to be the difference in the game.
 
"There are no heads hanging in the locker room because we played hard – we just got beat today," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "We fought tooth and nail, played well defensively and gave up only eight offensive rebounds. They got some putbacks and that's tough, but we're getting better game-by-game. It was a tough way to end this Pac-12 road trip as we call it."
 
Eastern suffered its third-straight defeat to a Pac-12 school, but the first two were by just three points as EWU led at halftime, with 10 minutes left and with five minutes left in each. For the third-straight game, Eastern sank just 2-of-15 3-point shots in the second half.
 
Senior Jacob Davison made his first four shots and finished with a team-high 15 points. Two other Eagles scored in double figures and junior Tanner Groves had a career-high 13 rebounds.
 
In the preseason media poll in the Pac-12 Conference, Oregon was picked to finish third – but was just 10 points behind favorite UCLA and only five behind No. 2 Arizona State. Of Eastern's other two Pac-12 opponents, Arizona was selected fifth and Washington State 11th in the 12-team league.
 
Oregon was led by Eugene Omoruyi with 18 points, giving him 71 points for the season. The 6-foot-6 senior forward, who transferred from Rutgers, scored 22 and 31 points in Oregon's first two games. Oregon won its 23rd-straight game at home.
 
"We feel good about the future and this team, but you have to make the plays to win the game," said Legans, whose team will try to win its first game on Wednesday (Dec. 9) at UNLV. We didn't make the shots we needed. We just have to be better."
 
 
Records
 
* The Eagles are 0-3, having opened the season Nov. 25 when it had only eight players available for the game and just six played. Eastern had a full roster for the Arizona game on Dec. 5, although Ellis Magnuson, who started all 31 Eagles games as a freshman last season, did not play for the second-straight game.
 
* Oregon is 2-1, having finally opened its season with games on Dec. 2 and Dec. 4 in Omaha, Neb. The Ducks lost 83-75 to Missouri in their opener, then beat Seton Hall 83-70.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason MVP in the Big Sky Conference, made 5-of-16 shots from the field to finish with 15 points. He also had three rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson scored 11 points off the bench, including nine in the first half.
Junior Tanner Groves had 13 rebounds, eclipsing his previous career high of 11 set against Northern Arizona in his freshman season. He scored just four points on 1-of-5 shooting after entering the game as EWU's leading scorer with a 15.0 average in the first two games.
Sophomore Casson Rouse scored 10 points and had three rebounds and a pair of assists.
Ellis Magnuson, who started all 31 Eagles games as a freshman last season but missed EWU's first two games this year, played eight minutes and had a pair of assists in his season debut.
Junior Kim Aiken Jr., a preseason All-Big Sky selection, did not score, but had four rebounds and a steal. He had scored in 43-straight games dating back to his freshman season.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, chipped in six points. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
Redshirt freshman Steele Venters made his Eagle debut and scored six second-half points for EWU.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
The Eagles had yet another great first half, leading for 8:19 of the 20 minutes, while Oregon led for 7:44 and the game was tied the other 3:57. There were seven ties and eight lead changes in the first half alone before the Ducks took a 43-36 lead at halftime.
 
Davison hit his first four shots of the game and helped Eastern made nine of its first 16 shots. But at the end of the half, the Eagles made just two of their last 11 to allow Oregon to assume the lead. The last lead for EWU came at 28-27 with 4:24 left and the last tie came with 45 seconds left before intermission.
 
Eastern cut the Duck lead to two to start the second half, but Oregon followed by an 11-2 run to open a double-digit lead at 47-36. Eastern made just 1-of-5 shots and had four turnovers during that run, while UO had a stretch of making four of seven shots.
 
The Eagles were able to cut the lead to six, but the Eagles made just two of their last 19 shots and the Ducks led by as many as 17 – the final margin.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* The Eagles were playing their third Pac-12 Conference foe to start the season. Eastern is now 3-49 versus current members of the Pac-12 since EWU moved to NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season (13-92 all-time). Eastern is now 0-4 against the Ducks all-time.
 
* Eastern has lost seven-in-a-row to Pac-12 opponents, dating back to a 67-61 victory at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2017. Since then, EWU has lost at Oregon (81-47 on 11/9/18), 83-59 at Washington (11/27/18), 78-62 at Stanford (12/15/18) 90-80 at Washington (12/4/19), 71-68 at Washington State (11/25/20) and 70-67 at Arizona (12/5/20). Two days before the Stanford victory, the Eagles fell at Washington 79-69, thus, Eastern head coach Shantay Legans is now 1-8 against the Pac-12. However, entering the Oregon game, Eastern had lost its last three meetings versus the league by just 16 points -- a losing margin of 5.3 points per game. Eastern had led by as many as nine, 13 and eight points in those games, respectively; in two of them Eastern has had leads at halftime, 10 minutes remaining and five minutes to play.
 
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* Eastern, the defending Big Sky Conference champions, was hoping the third time is the charm versus a Pac-12 opponent after narrowly losing a pair of 3-point games versus teams from that league to open the season. Eastern eventually began its season with a 71-68 loss at Washington State on Nov. 28 before falling 70-67 at Arizona on Dec. 5. In both games, Eastern led at halftime, led with 10 minutes left and led with five minutes remaining. Eastern led for 33:09 versus WSU, but a late 13-5 run by the Cougars was the difference; a 14-4 run by Arizona cost the Eagles that win after they led for 13:49 in the game.
 
* A year ago, Eastern won its fourth Big Sky regular season title in school history (2000, 2004, 2015, 2020), but now joins the 2004 team with the only outright titles. Eastern has gone on to win two Big Sky Tournament titles (2004 and 2015) to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles also have national postseason appearances in the NIT (2003) and the College Basketball Invitational (2016, 2017, 2018).
 
* The Covid-19 pandemic postponed a tasty season-opening match-up between the defending champions of both the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences last season. The game scheduled for Nov. 25 was postponed on Nov. 23, then officially added back on the schedule on Dec. 6. Both teams graduated their respective conference players of the year. Ducks guard Payton Pritchard received the honor in the Pac-12 last season and then was selected 26th overall in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. Mason Peatling took home the award in the Big Sky after averaging a double-double in league play. While EWU was the overwhelming favorite to win the Big Sky title, the Ducks were predicted to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason media poll behind UCLA and Arizona State. Senior guard Chris Duarte (12.9 points per game last season) and junior guard Will Richardson (11.0) were named to the preseason all-conference first team. Eastern was similarly recognized in the Big Sky with Jacob Davison and Kim Aiken Jr. earning preseason all-league nods.
 
* The Eagles entered the 2020-21 season with four starters back from last year's squad which finished 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the Big Sky to win the outright league title. The Covid-19 Pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the season, including the conclusion of the Big Sky Conference Tournament and the entire NCAA Tournament.
 
* A year ago, Oregon finished 24-7 overall and was 13-5 in the Pac-12 to win the regular season league title. The Ducks won all 17 home games at Matthew Knight Arena. Like the Big Sky, the pandemic halted the Pac-12 Tournament before its conclusion and before Oregon played a game. Thus, the Ducks entered the 2020-21 season with a four-game winning streak and Eastern entered having won its last seven.
 
 
On the Horizon
 
* The Eagles play their other two non-conference games this week -- road contests at 1-4 UNLV on Wednesday, Dec. 9, and at 4-1 Saint Mary's on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Eastern will also play its Big Sky Conference openers on the road at Northern Arizona on back-to-back days on Dec. 18 and 19 in Flagstaff, Ariz. Both of those games will begin at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time, and were moved from the previous dates of Dec. 3 and 5.
 
* UNLV was 17-15 a year ago, and was 12-6 in the Mountain West Conference before falling to Boise State 67-61 in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament. Saint Mary's was 26-8 overall and 11-5 in the West Coast Conference a year ago. The Gaels beat Pepperdine (89-82 in two overtimes) and BYU (51-50) in the WCC Tournament, but fell to Gonzaga (84-66) in the title game. 
 
* The Eagles are scheduled to open Big Sky Conference play on Dec. 18 at Northern Arizona. Eastern's school-record 16 Big Sky wins a year ago included sweeps over seven of the league's 10 other teams, and a split versus Idaho State and Idaho. Eastern was swept by Montana, which had won the two previous regular season and tournament titles. The Eagles had just two seniors – Mason Peatling and Tyler Kidd.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Shooting: "It's hard when you don't shoot the ball well. We have to get better there. It was a situation where we were playing against a really good, well-coached team. We need to be mentally strong and tough in games like this. I don't think we were and we didn't deserve to win."
 
On Defense:  "We did a really good job. On points per possession, we held another Pac-12 team to less than one point per possession which is really good. Oregon and some of the teams we've played are going to be tournament teams and are really good. I like the way we are at defensively. Our offense will catch-up. We're a 3-point shooting team and can put the ball in the basket. We just haven't done that yet. Our team has shown flashes -- I love the makeup of this team and we'll get better."
 
On Offensive Needs in Next Game: "We'll try to get the ball inside a little more and where we can get baskets. Teams like Oregon are going to rev up the pressure, and you have to be able to handle that, and we haven't the last two games. We've had some great looks – that's not the issue."
 
On Depth:  "We have a lot of depth, and have even more players who haven't played who are going to play. We like to give players opportunities to see what they can do and see if they run with it. We have a lot of players, and we have to figure out who can get in there and do certain things and play roles. That's the fun of coaching to figure that part out."