EUGENE, Ore. – Taking on a team that has won 24 consecutive games at home, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team needed to bring its firepower from beyond the arc.  Unfortunately for USF that did not happen tonight.  The Dons shot just 22.9 percent from the arc and struggled with Oregon's length as the Ducks went on to win 74-64 on Thursday evening at Matthew Knight Arena.
 
USF (5-4) got off to a tremendous start thanks in part to Taavi Jurkatamm. The senior from Estonia scored 10 of the Dons first 15 points en route to a career-high 15 points. USF led by as seven at the 13:32 mark in the first period.
 
However, a 19-4 run by the Ducks (5-1) in the middle of the first half helped Oregon take control.  From there the strong interior play of Eugene Omoruyi and Eric Williams Jr. helped the Ducks push their lead to as much as 21 points in the middle of the second half.
 
"I got to get back and watch the film, I thought we got some looks we just didn't shoot the ball well," said head coach Todd Golden following the loss. "Any time you get a ballgame where Dzmitry, Julian, and Khalil get 27 threes up you are going to feel pretty good but they went 5-for-27 tonight.  Those guys are good shooters and you want them to take all the good looks they can get but we just didn't make enough tonight."
 
USF refused to go quietly, with 5:03 to play trailing 67-52 Dzmitry Ryuny hit the first of several 3-point field goals by the Dons that helped bring USF back to life.  The Dons finished the contest making six of their last 13 shots from beyond the arc. 
 
An acrobatic layup by Jamaree Bouyea with 1:31 to play cut the deficit to six points, 70-64.  The Dons needed one more stop to fully turn the momentum.  But the Ducks responded with a pair of free throws and a layup to push the lead back to double digits where it would remain.
 
"Oregon has really good length, it took us a while to get the ball across half court and that made it tough to get into our offensive set," said Golden when discussing Oregon's pressure defense. "I thought we showed great resolve – down by 21 and we cut it all the way to six and gave ourselves a chance to get back into the ball game. When you go down by 21 to a top-25 type team you can go one of two ways, you can fold up the tent and get out of there with the loss or you can keep competing and that's what our guys did."
 
The Dons' leading scorer, Jurkatamm, was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line tonight. Also scoring in double figures for USF was Khalil Shabazz who added 11. Bouyea and Damari Milstead had 10 each.  The Dons backcourt, which has been excellent this season, struggled to get into a rhythm in the first half.  The duo of Shabazz and Bouyea finished strong however, scoring 15 after the break.
 
Oregon was led by Omoruyi who had a game-high 19 points.  He was one of four Ducks in double figures.  Williams Jr. had 16, followed by Chris Duarte and Amauri Hardy who had 11 each.  The Ducks scored 42 of their 74 points inside the paint tonight.
 
"This is the most talented team we have played this year," added Golden. "I'm not sure they are better than Virginia but they are most talented team we've played.  They use their length and athleticism to bother you.  I think this team has a chance to make a deep run in the tournament."
 
Next up for the Dons is a trip to Las Vegas where USF will play back-to-back neutral site games.  First up is a game against Grand Canyon at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.  That game will not have a video broadcast, Pat Olson will have the call on KNBR 1050-AM.
 
USF finishes non-conference play on Monday when they take on Cal State Fullerton at South Point Arena at 6:00 p.m.