Moser finds contentment with Oregon, bears no ill will to UNLV

About this time last year, Mike Moser was wrapping up a frustrating junior season with a disappointing early exit from the NCAA Tournament and facing an uncertain future.

Not long after the season ended, Moser announced his intention to transfer from UNLV to play his senior season elsewhere.

He knows it was the right decision.

“I feel so good,” said Moser, an honorable mention All-Pac 12 forward, after helping seventh-seeded Oregon (23-8) to an 88-74 win over 10th-seeded Oregon State (16-15) on Wednesday night in a first-round game of the Pac-12 tournament at the MGM Grand. “There’s not a lot of stress. There’s nothing I feel I have to prove. I just feel good. There’s no pressure, just playing. Having fun.”

Moser has been sensational down the stretch, notching Pac-12 player of the week honors each of the final two weeks of the regular season and helping the Ducks to eight straight wins.

He had just 13 points and three rebounds against Oregon State in the first-ever Pac-12 tournament matchup between the rivals, but was happy to get the win and set up a matchup at 6 p.m. today against second-seeded UCLA (23-8), the school at which Moser started his career before transferring to UNLV.

The underwhelming numbers were surprising based on Moser’s recent play. He had 12 points and 20 rebounds in an overtime win at UCLA on Feb. 27, then 20 points and 12 rebounds in a win at Southern California two days later.

On the final weekend of the regular season, Moser had 22 points and 17 rebounds against Arizona State, then 10 points and 10 rebounds in an upset over Arizona.

Oregon coach Dana Altman credited Moser’s emergence for the team’s recent run.

“He’s been really good,” Altman said. “Our resurgence here late has been mostly due to him. He’s played his tail off. His leadership, along with the other seniors, has been really important. He’s so fun to work with, and he’s easy to coach.”

Moser doesn’t think he would be having the same type of season had he stayed at UNLV. He was frustrated by an elbow injury that significantly decreased his numbers and never was fully able to get back to the comfort level he enjoyed during a monstrous sophomore season.

“I think I needed a change of scenery, certainly,” he said. “Last year was real tough for me, and it made it tougher being away from home. I kinda attribute some of this to the move back to Oregon as well, closer to my family. Honestly, I’ve built a real bond with some of these teammates, too.”

Many Rebels fans might view that comment as a shot at UNLV, but he insists that’s not the case. He said he still follows the Rebels and talks to former teammates. He also said rumors of disconnect on that team were exaggerated.

“It’s not as true as people think,” he said. “I know (UNLV coach Dave Rice) gets a lot of heat here, which I hate to see because there’s so much more that goes into it that I feel like people probably don’t realize.”

He attributed the perceived chemistry problems on a “natural occurrence” of a coach trying to put his own stamp on a program.

Moser has made his own mark at Oregon, averaging 13.7 points and 8.2 rebounds. Along with being healthy, he said he has played more freely by not thinking about what his numbers could mean to his NBA Draft stock, something he admits entered his mind last season.

While he didn’t put up big numbers Wednesday, he helped get the Ducks jump-started early. With Oregon trailing 9-0, Moser hit a 3-pointer to get the Ducks on the board. He hit another 3 that gave Oregon the lead for good, 59-57, during a 17-2 run in the second half that put the game away.

In the first game of the day, Utah’s Dakarai Tucker hit a 3-pointer with 37.3 seconds remaining to break a tie and help the eighth-seeded Utes to a 67-61 victory over ninth-seeded Washington. Delon Wright had 15 points for Utah (21-10).

Darin Johnson scored a game-high 16 points for the Huskies. Findlay Prep product Nigel Williams-Goss, a freshman guard, had 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Washington (17-15) is unlikely to get an NCAA Tournament berth. Williams-Goss and his teammates expressed hope their season would continue somewhere.

“I learned a lot this year. Obviously it didn’t go the way I would have liked, so I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board and look at the things that caused a lot of these losses and see where I can improve in the offseason,” said Williams-Goss, who had originally committed to UNLV before reopening his recruitment when Lon Kruger left for Oklahoma. “It felt good to be back here in Vegas. I hadn’t been here since last summer, so it was fun to be here again.”

Utah advances to play top-seeded Arizona (28-3) at noon today.

Also in the early session, fifth-seeded Colorado (22-10) survived a scare in a 59-56 win over 12th-seeded Southern California (11-21). Colorado will play fourth-seeded California (19-12) in a 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal today.

The final game of Wednesday’s opening round saw sixth-seeded Stanford (20-11) defeat 11th-seeded Washington State (10-21) 74-63. The Cardinal will play third-seeded Arizona State (21-10) in tonight’s final quarterfinal at 8:30.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.