EUGENE, Ore. — Dillon Brooks scored 11 straight points for Oregon late in the second half and finished with 19 to help the Ducks beat No. 9 Utah 69-58 on Sunday.
Joseph Young added 14 points and Elgin Cook had 12 for the Ducks (20-8, 10-5 Pac-12). They improved their NCAA tournament chances with their first victory over a Top 10 team since beating then-No. 3 Arizona last year in the regular-season finale.
Delon Wright scored 20 points for Utah (21-5, 11-3). The Utes dropped a game behind Arizona in the conference race with a showdown against the No. 7 Wildcats set for next Saturday in Salt Lake City
Brooks, a freshman, scored seven consecutive points to put the Ducks up by 10 with 4:58 to play. After Utah had a 5-0 run to pull within three again, Brooks added four more points — the last two on a driving dunk — to give the Ducks a 59-52 cushion.
Oregon sealed the win by hitting 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:09. The Ducks were 15 of 18 overall from the foul line.
Utah made just 10 of 31 shots (32.3 percent) in the second half and finished 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) from 3-point range after coming in as the Pac-12’s best beyond the arc at 40.6 percent.
The taller Utes, who also rank second in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin, saw the Ducks grab a 23-14 edge on the glass in the second half. Oregon finished with a 35-31 advantage in rebounds.
Utah jumped to a 7-2 lead but lost 7-foot freshman Jakob Poeltl to his second foul after just 4 1/2 minutes were gone on a play that also wiped out a 3 by Wright.
Poeltl, the Utes’ top rebounder, missed the rest of the half and finished with five points and four rebounds.
Both teams struggled on offense until Young’s layup gave Oregon its first lead at 21-19 with 5:30 left in the half. Young’s first points also started a 9-2 run that helped lift the Ducks to a 32-27 halftime advantage.
Oregon forced the Utes into 11 turnovers in the first half and converted those into 11 points.
TIP-INS
Utah: Sunday’s loss snapped the Utes’ five-game winning streak, their longest in conference play since joining the Pac-12 four years ago. Utah is already assured of its best conference finish. … For the second straight game, Utah had just one player score in double figures. … The Utes are unbeaten at home (15-0) but fell to 6-5 on the road.
Oregon: Only one former Oregon player, Terrell Brandon, scored more points as a Duck in a two-year span than Young, who passed Luke Ridnour (1,191) with 14 points on Sunday to reach 1,196. Brandon had 1,263 points in his last two seasons before being drafted 11th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1991. … Oregon’s average home attendance of 6,209 is its lowest in 23 years.
UP NEXT
Utah hosts Arizona State on Thursday night.
Oregon plays at California on Wednesday night.
