TJ Bamba leads Oregon men’s basketball past San Diego State at the Players Era Festival

TJ Bamba leads Oregon men’s basketball past San Diego State at the Players Era Festival

TJ Bamba made four of six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to give the Oregon Ducks a 78-68 men’s basketball victory over San Diego State on Wednesday at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

Keeshawn Barthelemy gave Oregon some scoring power off the bench, scoring 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Barthelemy started a 9-0 run with a jumper and finished it with a three-pointer, giving the Ducks the lead for good at 34-27 late in the first half. Bamba had a three-point play on the rise.

Jackson Shelstad hit a three-pointer and Barthelemy had two free throws in the final seconds for a 41-31 halftime lead.

San Diego State went on a 9-0 run and cut the deficit to 56-53 on a jumper by Nick Boyd midway through the second half. The next three baskets for Oregon were three-pointers by Brandon Angel, Bamba and Barthelemy, and then Shelstad made three free throws after a foul on a long shot. San Diego State never managed to score fewer than three possessions in the final 5 1/2 minutes.

Angel and Shelstad each scored 12 points for the Ducks (7-0), who face either No. 9 Alabama or Rutgers in the tournament championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (TV on TNT).

Nate Bittle added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks, who shot 44.6% overall and hit 10 of 22 three-pointers (45.5%).

Oregon controlled the boards in rebounding with a 41-24 advantage and the Ducks made 18 of their 26 free throws.

San Diego State lost despite shooting 50.9%, making just six three-pointers and going 4 of 8 at the line. BJ Davis scored 18 points for San Diego State (3-2), which will play loser Alabama-Rutgers on Saturday in the tournament’s third-place game.

Oregon opened the tournament with an 80-70 win over No. 20 Texas A&M on Tuesday.

– From staff and news reports

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