TJ Bamba drained 4 of 6 three-pointers and finished with 22 points to power the Oregon Ducks to a 78-68 men’s basketball win against San Diego State on Wednesday at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
Keeshawn Barthelemy gave Oregon some scoring punch off the bench, scoring 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3 of 4 beyond the arc.
Barthelemy started a 9-0 run with a jumper and ended it with a three-pointer as the Ducks took the lead for good at 34-27 late in the first half. Bamba had a three-point play in the surge.
Jackson Shelstad hit a three and Barthelemy had two free throws in the closing seconds for a 41-31 halftime lead.
San Diego State had a 9-0 run, cutting the deficit to 56-53 on a Nick Boyd jumper midway through the second half. The next three baskets for Oregon were threes from Brandon Angel, Bamba and Barthelemy, and then Shelstad made three free throws off a foul on a deep shot. San Diego State never got it below three possessions in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
Angel and Shelstad scored 12 each for the Ducks (7-0), who advance to face either No. 9 Alabama or Rutgers in the tournament championship game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (TV on TNT).
Nate Bittle added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks, who shot 44.6% overall and hit 10 of 22 threes (45.5%).
Oregon controlled the boards, with a 41-24 advantage in rebounding, and the Ducks made 18 of their 26 free throws.
San Diego State lost despite shooting 50.9%, making just six threes and going 4 of 8 at the line. BJ Davis scored 18 points for San Diego State (3-2), which will play the Alabama-Rutgers loser in the tournament third-place game on Saturday.
Oregon opened the tournament by beating No. 20 Texas A&M 80-70 on Tuesday.
— From staff and wire reports
