Photo credit: AP PHOTO - Elaine Thompson

Didn't see that coming. Not the 90-79 Washington defeat. But rather the Ducks' new star, Malcolm Armstead. And as long as we're being honest, I didn't think Michael Dunigan (above) was as good as he looked today.

We all knew about Tajuan Porter, but the real reason UW lost this game was Armstead's dribble drives and playmaking and Dunigan's dominance inside.

Oregon essentially beat Washington at it's own game. The stats are nearly identical, however, the Ducks are slightly better in almost every category. They had fewer turnovers (8-9), more steals (5-3), more rebounds (35-31) and more assists (13-8).

Washington dominated on free throws (35-17), but that was probably because the Huskies were playing at home. If this game were in Mac Court, UW would have lost by 20 or more.

MORE OBSERVATIONS:

--- If not for Armstead, Isaiah Thomas might have been the game's star. He had a quiet 25 pointns, if that's possible.

--- Quincy Pondexter made 6 of 12 shots for 16 points and it feels as if he didn't take enough shots. He admitted UW had difficulty getting him the ball. Pondexter also had six offensive rebounds, which was a game-high.

--- Abdul Gaddy was having a fine game early on, but it felt as if the game just got to be too much for him. He had four assists in the first half and looked as if he was on his way to his best game of the season. But Gaddy couldn't keep up with Armstead and Romar searched the rotation for anyone who could slow down Armstead.

--- Even Overton struggled with Armstead, which says a lot about the Oregon guard. Strangely enough, Overton made his biggest contributions on the offensive end late in the game. He finished with a season-high 14 points.

--- The knee-jerk reaction is to compare Dunigan's numbers and with Matthew Bryan-Amaning's and Tyreese Breshers' and conclude he vastly outplayed UW's big men. And that's partly true, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Dunigan was aided by well-placed assists from Armstead and Porter. A few times, Oregon dumped the ball to him on the low block and let him go to work, but many times all Dunigan had to do was catch and dunk.

Still, give the big man credit. He sank 6 of 7 free throws. And he played solid defense in the paint.

--- It wasn't Bryan-Amaning's finest game. When asked about him after the game, coach Lorenzo Romar skirted around the question and complimented Breshers. Bryan-Amaning finished with 1 point and three rebounds.

--- Breshers had his moments. But if he's going to make a real impact this season, he has to improve his free throw shooting. Before today he was .536 at the line and he missed 3 of 4 in the game. He finished with five points and three rebounds.

--- Scott Suggs returned and sank two three-pointers. It felt as if UW was much better when he was on the floor, but he played just 11 minutes. I didn't have a chance to ask Romar if Suggs was limited because of the stomach illness that kept him out of Thursday's game.

--- With the exception of Overton, the bench contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. The Huskies usually get a little more than that. Elston Turner was the odd man out of the rotation today. He was scoreless in four minutes.

--- The only coaching move that seemed a bit odd was the decision to keep Thomas on Porter rather than switching him to Armstead. Granted, Thomas hasn't established himself as a defensive stopper yet, but he might have had a better chance of staying in front of Armstead than Gaddy, Overton or Suggs.

--- It's not a trend, but for the second straight game UW wasn't stellar against the press. Oregon State did it Thursday and Oregon did it again today. The Ducks changed the game when it picked up 3/4 court and dropped into a zone. Even when they defended man-to-man, the token press bothered the Huskies enough to knock them out of rhythm or force turnovers.

--- And finally, this wasn't a horrible loss. In fact, it may help Romar focus the team before it heads on the road next week. Everyone knows UW hasn't won on the road yet and you got to think the coaching staff will have enough ammunition in practice this week.

SOME QUOTES:

Just one quote today. It's from Pondexter and it might be the most alarming aspect to the game.

(Any concern this team is a little too cocky sometimes? Is that unfair or do you sense that?) "I do sense that sometimes. I guess because I don't have that .. with me I'm just ... I don't know how to explain it. ... (sigh) ... Oh man. ... It's one of those things where I'm not like most of those guys. We all have different personalities on this team. I wouldn't say it's a problem or anything, but that's how those guys are. They carry a chip on their shoulders. With some of them like Venoy. He has a lot of intensity and that's his character.

"Maybe we got a little bit ahead of ourselves in the cocky standpoint. We need to be a lot better on the court before we try to have a flamboyant style."

(Have you talked to them about that at all?) "You cant ... It's their personality. It's not necessarily them. I think a lot of teams have the same feeling. A lot of guys are just different. Right now I know the next game they won't be that same attitude because we did lose to Oregon. We're going to come out working a lot harder, more of a business-like attitude and play a lot better."