EUGENE — The last time No. 16 Oregon was 6-0 in league play the Ducks were known as the Webfoots and the league was called the Pacific Coast Conference, not the Pac-12.
But Oregon (17-2, 6-0 Pac-12) reached that mark for the first time since 1925-26 on Wednesday with a 68-61 victory over Washington State, a win that required a rally from the Ducks’ largest halftime deficit of the season.
E.J. Singler had 19 points — 14 in the second half — for Oregon, which trailed 39-29 at halftime before pulling out its eighth straight victory. Arsalan Kazemi added 16 points and Damyean Dotson had 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
The win was Oregon’s 19th straight at home, tied for the sixth-longest active streak in the nation, and kept them alone in first place in the Pac-12.
“It was just one of those games, I guess," Singler said. “All that matters is we got the ‘W.’ We have to have the mindset that we’re the hunted now."
Mike Ladd had 19 points and Brock Motum scored 14 for the Cougars (10-9, 1-5), who shot just 27.3 percent from the field in the second half as they lost their big lead.
“It seemed like they turned the heat up in the second half," Washington State coach Ken Bone said. “There’s a reason why they’re ranked 16th in the country."
Oregon opened the second half on a 9-0 run, getting within a point of the Cougars’ double-digit advantage on a breakaway dunk by Carlos Emory that made it 39-38 with 15:33 left.
But Dexter Kernich-Drew snapped a zero-for-five start to the second half for Washington State with a tough layup and Motum followed with a three-point play to put the Cougars back up 44-38.
Then Singler took over. The senior forward scored 10 straight points, tying the game 46-46 with the second of his consecutive 3-pointers. His free throws at the 11:45 mark gave the Ducks their first lead of the game, 48-46.
“I was just feeling it," Singler said. “Some of the guys gave me some good passes, and I knocked down the shots. That got me going and coach ran some plays for me."
The Cougars went back up 53-52 on a layup by Royce Woolridge with 7:38 to play, but Kazemi answered with a dunk off a pass from Singler, and Dominic Artis made a 3-pointer on another assist by Singler as the Ducks took a 57-53 lead and led the rest of the way.
“We bounced back and found a way," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “But you maybe get one of those a year, or two of those a year where you’re really outplayed in the first half. You get those double-digit deficits and if you think you’re going to come back from those every single game, you’re making a mistake."
Also on Wednesday:
La Salle 54
No. 9 Butler 53
PHILADELPHIA — Ramon Galloway went the length of the court for the winning basket with 2.7 seconds left to send La Salle past Butler (16-3, 3-1 Atlantic-10).
No. 7 Indiana 72
Penn State 49
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Victor Oladipo scored 19 points, and Yogi Ferrell added a season-high 15 to help Indiana (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) rout Penn State.
No. 8 Florida 64
Georgia 47
ATHENS, Ga. — Scottie Wilbekin scored 17 points to help Florida (15-2, 5-0) shake off a sluggish first half and romp past another Southeastern Conference opponent.
Northwestern 55
No. 12 Minnesota 48
EVANSTON, Ill. — Jared Swopshire scored 16 points to lead Northwestern past Minnesota, handing the Gophers (15-4, 3-3 Big Ten) their third straight loss.
No. 15 New Mexico 66
Colorado State 61
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tony Snell scored 23 points and New Mexico (17-2, 4-0 Mountain West) held off a late Colorado State rally.
Drake 74
No. 17 Creighton 69
DES MOINES, Iowa — Richard Carter scored 20 points and Drake handed Creighton (17-3, 6-2 Missouri Valley) consecutive losses for the first time this season.
No. 20 Wichita State 62
Missouri State 52
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Cleanthony Early scored 17 points, Carl Hall added 15 and Wichita State (18-2, 7-1 Missouri Valley) rallied past Missouri State.
