EWU drops pair of games to PAC-12 foes

CHENEY-The third time wasn't a charm for EWU men's basketball's attempt to vanquish a PAC-12 opponent. The Eagles (0-3) fell to Oregon 69-52 Dec. 7 after hanging tough with Arizona but failing to hold a lead in a 70-67 defeat Dec. 5.

The pair of defeats, coupled with a seasoning opening loss to Washington State on Nov. 28 71-68, meant the Eagles were unsuccessful in their three tries at claiming their first victory over a PAC-12 opponent since a 2017 victory at Stanford.

"There are no heads hanging in the locker room because we played hard - we just got beat today," EWU head coach Shantay Legans said after the loss to Oregon. "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."

EWU had a real chance at knocking off perennial NCAA Elite Eight contender Arizona in Saturday's matinee, holding a six-point lead with 8:42 remaining and leading for 13:42 of total game time. However, the Eagles went cold from three-point range, shooting 2 of 15 from deep in the second half after stroking eight of their 17 attempts in the first half.

Arizona's late 14-4 run doomed EWU, which got the ball down three with 19 seconds remaining, but star senior guard Jacob Davison threw the ball away with an ill-advised pass that ended up in the hands of Arizona's Dalen Terry as time wound down to seal the Wildcats' victory.

"I watched them (on video) and I watched us, and I thought we were better," Legans said. "But today we weren't, and I hope we get another chance down the line. It hurts right now, because we can't keep saying we should have won these games."

Sophomore forward Tyler Robertson had his best game as an Eagle against Arizona, scoring a career-high 14 points and grabbing five rebounds. Four Eagles scored in double figures.

EWU hung tough with Oregon for 30 of the 40 minutes two days later, but poor three-point shooting in the second half and an apparent lid on the basket for much of the game allowed Oregon to pull away in the final 10 minutes.

Once again, EWU shot just 2 of 15 from three in the second half. Players not named redshirt freshman Steele Venters, who was inserted by Legans in hopes of providing an offensive spark to an ice-cold Eagle squad, were 0 of 13 from behind the arc. It was Venters' first action of the young season, and he hit his first two three point attempts of his career.

Overall, EWU was outscored 33-20 in the second half, shooting just 19.2% from three for the game.

EWU was outrebounded by the Ducks 45-31 after getting dominated on the glass 47-27 against Arizona. The Eagles also coughed the ball up 18 times, leading to a 20-12 Duck advantage in points off turnovers.

Junior forward Tanner Groves grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against Oregon after scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds before fouling out against Arizona.

EWU's leaders, Davison and junior forward Kim Aiken Jr, struggled mightily from the field during the two-game stretch.

Davison was held to just six points on 3 of 11 shooting against Arizona, while Aiken similarly scored six and went 1 for 8 from the field. The two combined to toss up 10 missed 3-pointers while converting just one.

Aiken was held scoreless against Oregon. Davison hit his first four shots, but hit just one of his next 11 attempts and finished with 15 points. Neither player hit a three.

"We feel good about the future and this team, but you have to make the plays to win the game," Legans said. "We didn't make the shots we needed. We just have to be better."

After Wednesday's game at UNLV was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test in the UNLV program, EWU's next scheduled game is Dec. 15 at perennial second-place WCC finisher St. Mary's.

Drew Lawson can be reached at [email protected].