It was a defensive battle for much of the first half, with both teams shooting under 40 percent from the field for an extended stretch. Oregon uncharacteristically turned the ball over six times in the first 10 minutes and Houston couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc, shooting sub-10 percent. The Ducks stood no chance on the boards, surrendering countless second-chance opportunities to the Cougars and had little luck penetrating the their defense. 

After Payton Pritchard and Shakur Juiston collided, failing to corral a loose ball off of a rebound and Quentin Grimes converted a fast break layup, the Ducks faced an eight-point deficit as Houston seemed ready to break the game wide open.

Then Chris Duarte took over. 

With just under six minutes to go in the first half and the Ducks in the midst of a scoring drought, Duarte dribbled off a screen to his left and sank a fadeaway mid-range jumper. 

On the next Ducks’ possession, he caught the ball on the wing and delivered a quick jab step, freezing his defender, before drilling a 3-pointer. 

Timeout Houston. Matt Knight Arena was alive again.

“We were in a little trouble there,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We were real stagnant and they were pounding us on the boards. They were definitely the aggressors. We got a little run going there [and] turned it around.” 

Duarte wasn’t done, though. He attacked the rim, drawing in Houston’s defense before finding Mathis in the corner for one of his five 3-pointers on the night.

Just like that, Oregon regained the lead. And with a Chandler Lawson alley-oop slam in transition, followed by another triple from Duarte, the Ducks wouldn’t look back. 

“Coach always says ‘10 up, 10 down, 20 up, 20 down, we’re always going to play the same way,’” Anthony Mathis said. “Always stay together and fight together. 

Duarte has yet to fully emerge in Altman’s system. He’s had moments of greatness accompanied with moments where he simply disappears. And while tonight may not have been his best game statistically in a Ducks’ jersey, it was his most important.

Those eight points were his only of the night, but it’s the timeliness that made them so impressive. Oregon looked lost on offense, desperately needing someone to take initiative. Duarte answered the bell. 

In addition to his much-needed baskets, Duarte racked up 4 assists — which led the team for much of the game, before a few late dishes from Pritchard — and three boards. 

“Chris is super versatile,” Mathis said. “He’s a really great team player. He makes the extra plays a lot and he can score at all three levels. It’s nice to have that. He’s a big guard [who] can grab rebounds, he can really do it all. I’m excited for him.” 

Mathis wasn’t the only teammate to notice Duarte’s impact. 

“We needed plays like that,” Francis Okoro said. “He understood he was hot [and] he kept shooting the ball… He kept us going.” 
While it’s easy to look past an eight-point outing — in which he was the team’s fifth leading scorer — in a game that was a blowout for much of the second half, Duarte single-handedly swung the momentum in the Ducks’ favor, helping deliver a win that could pay dividends down the road for Oregon’s already impressive resume.