Both the Oregon Ducks and Washington State Cougars picked up right where they left off from Thursday blowout wins Saturday afternoon. The Ducks and the Cougars started out hitting a combined 8-of-11 shots in the game’s first four minutes and it looked as if the first team to a 100 points would be the victor.

Oregon junior forward Carlos Emory scored 12 points and has now scored in double-digits four times in the last five games.

Problem was the Ducks were hitting twos while the Cougars were hitting threes. The Cougars hit four threes in the first six minutes of the game to lead 15-12.

But then the Ducks would clamp down on defense over the final 30 minutes of play and pull away from the Washington State Cougars and win 78-69. Oregon improves to 18-7 on the season and 9-4 in Pac-12 play.

Junior E.J. Singler scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 from three while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Singler now has 987 career points and is just 13 points shy of becoming the Ducks’ 31st player in program history to reach 1,000 points.

The Cougars fell to 13-12 and 5-8 in Pac-12 play.

"It was a game where we won the game on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively it wasn't very good,” said head coach Dana Altman. “I was pleased we got the win but I know we could have played better defensively and on the boards so that takes a way a little bit of the enthusiasm of the win.”

The Ducks struggled in the first half keeping the ball in their own hands and committed nine first half turnovers which allowed Washington State to score nine points off Oregon’s mistakes and stay close to Oregon.

But in the second half Oregon only committed two turnovers while forcing five turnovers against Washington State.

“Turnovers lead to easy baskets, it’s a double-edged sword,” said Dana Altman. “Those nine turnovers we had in the first half were a big factor. Very pleased at times the way we moved the ball in the second half but defensively was not a good effort.”

The Ducks now have their important sweep of the Washington schools this weekend and a season sweep over Washington State as they continue to keep pace with Cal and Washington.

“I think we are differently becoming more of a better team,” said Devoe Joseph about Oregon’s improved play as of late.

A big reason behind Oregon’s improved play as of late has been the emergence of Carlos Emory who has now scored double-digits four out of the last five games with 12 points and eight rebounds coming today against Washington State.

“His athleticism has made a tremendous difference for us,” said Altman about Emory‘s play as of late. “And he’s really cut down his mistakes. He’s making the right cuts and making the right plays. He’s really helping us defensively. There’s not one phase of his game where he’s not getting better.”

Emory’s play as of late has given the Ducks that much needed post presence on a regular basis on both ends of the court in not only scoring baskets but also grabbing rebounds and defending the rim.

“You saw his athleticism on display on those last two rebounds late,” added Altman on Emory’s key rebounds to help ice the Cougar’s late rally attempts.

The Ducks got big threes from Senior Garrett Sim and Singler along with a nice tip-in from Emory that broke open a close game late in the second half.

Sim drove to the hoop and found a wide open Singler out on the wing for the first three and then the next trip down the roles were reversed when Singler drove to the basket and then found a wide open Sim waiting on the wing for an open three.

The two big threes by the two Oregon natives sparked a 14-5 run over the final 3:35 to clinch the victory.

“It’s fun to be at February 11th and still in the hunt,” said Altman of Oregon‘s improved play and life in the Pac-12 race. “We know we got a long ways to go yet to be the team we want to be come March but we got three weeks. I still think this team has a lot of growth yet.”

Now the Ducks will have another chance to continue climbing the Pac-12 standings come Thursday night with a road trip to first-place Cal.

“We know going down there is going to be tough but we are going to be hungry because they came in here and got one,” Joseph said about the upcoming game against Cal on the road next week.

Joseph and Sim both finished with 16 points while Joseph recorded four assists and two rebounds and Sim had three assists.

Washington State was led by junior forward Brock Motum's 17 points and five rebounds and five assists. Mike Ladd added 13 points off the bench and Reggie Moore chipped in 12 points and six assists.