The 13-11, 5-7 Washington State Cougars and 17-7, 8-4 Oregon Ducks turned on the offensive jets to get by 15-9, 5-7 Oregon State and 16-8, 9-3 Washington on Thursday.

Oregon's win opened up the Pacific-12 Conference race. The Ducks dropped the Huskies in a tie with 19-6, 9-3 California while Oregon caught 17-8, 8-4 Arizona and 16-8, 8-4 Colorado for third place. The Ducks needed the win to avoid falling back in the pack and from the outset in Eugene Thursday night seemed like a team on a mission.

Oregon ousted UW 82-57 thanks to leading 49-26 at the break. The Huskies opened in a 12-2 hole and from thereon forward never pulled within eight points. The Ducks' last single digit lead was 21-12 at the under 12-minute timeout. Senior guard Garrett Sim drained a three-pointer to put an end to that. After consecutive Washington hoops cut the margin back down to 11, junior forward E.J. Singler tallied nine of 15 points during a 11-0 Oregon run to wrap up the game in the first half.
 
The Huskies never got any closer than 20 during the second half. The Ducks shot about 20 percent better from the floor than UW who was an atrocious 34.8 percent. Neither team could make their free throws with Oregon bricking 10-of-23 attempts. The Huskies were 7-of-17. Leading the Ducks in scoring was reserve junior forward Carlos Emory with 16 points. Senior guard Devoe Joseph, Sim and Singler tallied 13 apiece.

Earlier in the day WSU stepped into Corvallis eying a sweep and picked it up dismantling the Beavers 83-73. The Cougs shot significantly better than OSU from the field making six more shots during five less attempts. Sophomore forward D.J. Shelton had back-to-back hoops to help give Washington State their biggest lead at 59-41 with 13:15 to go.

The Beavs pulled within nine points late, but never got any closer. Junior forward Brock Motum led the way for the Cougars scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Shelton added 14 as guards senior Marcus Capers, freshman DaVonte Lacy and junior Reggie Moore also tabulated double digits.

WSU snapped a five-game slide on the road, all against Pac-12 competition, by destroying Oregon State. The Cougs had previously lost close ones at 8-16, 4-8 Arizona State and in overtime at 5-19, 2-10 Utah. Washington State's other three Pacific-12 Conference battles were double-digit defeats, but the Cougars did give 19-4, 9-2 Gonzaga a good game while getting the better of 14-11, 6-4 Idaho and 6-19, 3-9 Portland during non-conference. WSU was bashed by Oregon 92-75 on Dec. 29 in Spokane. The Cougs lost by 26 at Matthew Knight Arena a season ago.

The Ducks are 12-3 in Eugene this year. Seven of Oregon's wins have been by slim margins including over some weak competition. 11-13, 5-6 Eastern Washington, 12-12, 6-6 Portland State, 10-13, 6-4 Prarie View A&M and 6-19, 1-11 Southern California lost by under 10 points. Washington State's better than all of those teams. Then again the Ducks have played to the level of competition as well beating 16-8, 6-6 Stanford and Washington at Knight Arena. As well the Beavers, Golden Bears and No. 20 Virginia won at Oregon. The Cougars are better than their record and the Ducks are in a classic letdown spot. Even if Oregon wins, it will likely be by handful of points.