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