The Oregon men’s basketball team secured a promising early-season victory Friday evening at Matthew Knight Arena, defeating the Houston Cougars 78-66. 

Neither team was able to find a rhythm offensively in the first half, and the Ducks found themselves down 22-14 with a little over five minutes left in the first half. However, the Cougars defense yielded to the hot hands of Anthony Mathis and Chris Duarte, who got hot from deep and fueled an offensive burst. Payton Pritchard was a workhorse for the Ducks, playing 37 minutes, impacting the game with his hustle and quickness. His 16 points against Houston carried extra weight however, as he launched himself into 16th place in scoring in program history, passing both Joseph Young and Luke Ridnour, two former NBA players. 

While Houston is unranked, they’re a talented squad projected to compete for a conference championship. It’s a crucial win for the Ducks who seem to be clicking on both sides of the ball.
 

Shooting beyond the arc made the difference offensively
 

For both sides, 3-point percentage told the story of their offensive performance. Houston — who was ranked 31st in the nation in team 3-point percentage with a respectable 40 percent coming into the game — was dreadful from beyond the arc. They made only one triple in each half, shooting 2-20 on the night, with freshman guard Caleb Mills picking up both buckets. 

On the other hand, the Ducks were 10-21 from three led by Anthony Mathis’ 5-9 showing. Mathis set the tone early scoring Oregon’s first five points of the night on a layup and a fast-break triple, and the rest of the offense followed suit.

“I had a lot of good looks,” Mathis said. “[They] did a good job of finding me open.”

Pritchard and Duarte each had a pair of buckets from behind the arc, and Will Richardson got in on the action with one of his own. Oregon’s 3-point sharpshooting — as well as its lockdown perimeter defense — made the difference in a game that could’ve looked much different if Houston knocked down a few more triples.

Oregon’s rebounding struggles continue

In a game where the Ducks looked strong on both sides of the ball, there was one part of their game that needs to be addressed if they want to stack up against the top teams in the country: rebounding. The first and only offensive rebound of the half didn’t come until Francis Okoro cleaned up Payton Pritchard’s missed layup with just 4:46 to go in the first half.

“I’m not really pleased with how we rebounded,” said Okoro, who had a career-high 12 points in the win, going 4-4 from the field. 

Houston racked up 10 and finished with a total of 17 offensive rebounds. Fortunately for Oregon, the Cougars weren’t able to capitalize on many of the second chances they got, and it didn’t affect the outcome of the game. 

“They’re a very good offensive rebounding team, but we have to learn to block better” head coach Dana Altman said. “We have to be more physical on the boards.

The freshmen are still finding their roles
 

The Oregon offense is undoubtedly clicking, but further examination of the box score shows many of the youngsters on the team have yet to fully blossom. There’s not much to show for the performance of the freshmen, as Chandler Lawson, CJ Walker and Addison Patterson combined for a total of 34 minutes and just seven points. 

“Our freshmen are coming along, but our seniors and our older guys have to play,” Altman said. “It takes a while to adjust to the physicality and how hard you have to play defensively.”

Despite a lack of immediate production from the freshmen, it’s important to keep in mind that this was only Game 5. CJ Walker picked up three rebounds, a sign that he could give some much needed help on the boards.

As Oregon heads to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the team looks forward to an early-season test against Seton Hall

“The guys are excited about it,” Altman said. “It’s supposed to be the best holiday tournament.”

Thus far, the Ducks seem to have picked up where they left off from last year’s tournament run. While the roster looks drastically different, the offense is operating on all cylinders, and with a few improvements in the rebounding game, the 5-0 Ducks will be a threatening presence in the Pac-12, and moreover the country.