Top-seeded Oregon destroys upstart Holy Cross

SPOKANE — This wasn’t a Patriot League game, Holy Cross.

The Crusaders had employed an efficient offense and a 1-3-1 defense to five straight postseason victories heading into Friday.

But the Oregon Ducks, nobody’s No. 1 seed when the season began, shredded that defense by dribbling and passing through it, and lobbing over it for dunks in a 91-52 demolition of 16th-seeded Holy Cross in a first-round NCAA tournament game at the Spokane Arena.

“We’re all disappointed that we didn’t give a better account of ourselves this evening,” Holy Cross coach Bill Carmody said. “Oregon had a lot to do with that. They are a very good passing team, and they share the ball. And we really didn’t have an answer.”

Oregon (29-6) plays St. Joseph’s on Sunday around 6:45 p.m. at the Arena in a second-round game.

The high-flying Ducks had five dunks in the first half, three by Chris Boucher, a 6-foot-11 junior from Montreal who not dunks and blocks shots, but shoots 3s as well. He finished with 20 points in 17 minutes.

“We’ve come to expect that from him,” Oregon sophomore guard Casey Benson said. “He can get a lot done in a limited amount of time.”

“They just made us uncomfortable on offense,” Holy Cross junior forward Malachi Alexander said. “He (Boucher) was a huge presence inside. He gave our defense fits, because of his length.”

Senior forward Elgin Cook added 11 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for Oregon, and sat out the last 12 minutes after the Ducks had the game well in hand. Senior forward Dwayne Benjamin added 12 points, and sophomore forward Dillon Brooks had 11 points and five assists.

“I just thought they were precise about the way they went about their business on offense,” Carmody said.

Oregon coach Dana Altman said the plan was to flatten out the 1-3-1 of Holy Cross (15-20) by getting the ball to the baseline, and attacking from there. He praised Cook and Brooks for driving the ball from the baseline, and when they got stopped, lobbing the ball up for Boucher to dunk.

“With them having to come clear across the country, I thought we needed to set the tone early, and never let them in the game,” Altman said.

Oregon took the drama out of any potential upset early. The Ducks scored the game’s first seven points, led 43-25 at the half, and never looked back.

Junior guard Robert Champion, one of the heroes of Holy Cross’ win over Southern in a First Four game on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, led all scorers with 22 points. Alexander added 10.

“Holy Cross is a great team,” Brooks said. “I was kinda scared, to be honest with you. We’ve been making a lot of history at Oregon, but I didn’t want to make THAT kind of history.”