When Lexi Bando wanted to score Monday night, nothing stopped her.
Bando finished with a career-high 35 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor and Jillian Alleyne tallied a double-double with 26 points and 20 rebounds to help Oregon rout San Jose State 104-74.
The Ducks are now 6-0, which matches the program’s best start since the 2011-2012 season.
“She’s the best shooter I’ve ever coached,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “Just pure shooter. She does it everyday in practice… If you let her get her feet set, it’s like a layup for you and me.”
Oregon had two others reach double figures: Lexi Petersen (12) and Liz Brenner (11). The Ducks shot 61 percent from the floor and limited the Spartans to 38 percent from the field.
“It was, all-in-all, a really great team effort,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “Six and 0. That sounds pretty good.”
The Ducks got out to an early 13-2 lead after SJSU got the first two points. Oregon made six of its first 10 buckets. Oregon extended its lead to 26-8 before the Ducks allowed SJSU to rally for five straight points. UO shot 58 percent in the first, compared to SJSU’s 27 percent.
“I thought the first three to four minutes of the game was just really controlled, really good basketball,” Graves said.
At the half, Lexi Bando had 19 points. Oregon won the rebounding battle in the first half (31-12) and committed 13 turnovers. They limited the Spartans to 28 percent shooting from the field.
The Spartans, coached by former Oregon coach Jamie Craighead, run the run-and-gun style of play used by former coach Paul Westhead. Dan Muscatell, a former Oregon assistant under Westhead, also serves on Craighead’s staff. Alleyne said she and the Ducks were ready for the up-tempo style of play. Many of the seniors were recruited to play run-and-gun under Westhead.
“It was a good challenge,” said Alleyne, who was 12-of-17 from the floor. “Definitely, we put on our track shoes… We were ready. Nothing was a shock—the threes, the fast layups. It was almost second nature.”
Oregon continued its rout, outscoring SJSU 33-23 in the third. Alleyne’s bucket with 5:58 left in the third quarter broke her own school and Pac-12 record for most consecutive double-doubles, 21. It was her 75th career double-double, which inches her closer to the Pac-12 record of 85, held by former Stanford star Chiney Ogwumike.
“Double-doubles, they’re a great thing, but not an easy thing,” Alleyne said. “When my teammates miss, I let them know I’ll get their rebound and kick it out because I’m not a selfish player.”
The Ducks’ first missed field goal of the third came with 2:23 left.
Oregon reached 100 points on a layup with 4:30 remaining in the fourth. Oregon allowed SJSU to force 20 turnovers, but won the rebounding battle (47-21). The Ducks had 23 assists on their 43 buckets and held SJSU to 20 percent shooting from 3-point range before halftime.
Graves said Bando usually arrives at practice an hour early to work on her shot. Before the game, she said she could tell Tuesday night would be special. Associate head coach Mark Campbell told Bando to shoot with confidence, something she said she’s lacked recently. Bando easily broke her previous career-high of 28 points, which she had last season against Santa Clara.
“She works so hard she has to change her jersey before practice starts,” Graves said. “This is not luck or happenstance. This is something she does. It’s who she is.”
On Monday, Graves promoted Campbell from assistant to associate head coach after serving one season in Eugene.
“On the court and off the court, he gets the relationship, what it means to be a college basketball player,” Alleyne said. “He just gets it.”
The Ducks return to action on Saturday against North Dakota State with a 2 p.m. tip-off.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
