Oregon spent the offseason harping on how to get Will Richardson more looks from deep.

After their point guard shot north of 40% from deep each of the last two seasons, the Ducks urged him to up his volume.

One game in, the early returns proved fruitful.

Half way through the second half of Oregon’s 83-66 season opening win over Texas Southern in Matthew Knight Arena, Richardson had launched a career-high eight three-point attempts.

“I want him to be aggressive from three,” head coach Dana Altman said.

Richardson finished with a game-high 20 points and hit half of his threes.

Last season, Oregon won 13 of the season’s final 16 games on the back of a small-ball lineup. Richardson was the only true ball handler of the starting group. Surrounded by forwards, he had to be.

This year, he’s got new backcourt mates. The Oklahoma transfer De’Vion Harmon and Rutgers transfer Jacob Young started alongside him and alleviated the ball-handling duties. With two other upperclassmen who can run the offense, Richardson saw open looks all evening and led a new-look three guard offense that buried their opponent with a flurry of threes.

“Playing with those guys just makes it easier because they are vets like me,” Young said of Harmon and Richardson.

The last time Richardson played next to a ball-dominant guard, the Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard was still in a Ducks uniform. Pritchard’s three-point attempts per game jumped from five as a junior, to eight as a senior.

Richardson looks poised for a similar fourth-year bump.

His shooting was infectious Tuesday. The Ducks hoisted up 36 threes, nailing a dozen of them. If their starting lineup, which featured just one player over 6-foot-6, is any indication, the performance from beyond the arc could be a sign of things to come for Altman’s Ducks

“Percentage wise we are a better shooting team than that,” Altman said of the 33% his team shot from deep. “Two or three of them were a little quick.”

On Tuesday, the Ducks raced out to a 13-4 lead on the back of eight points from Young, then slowed down and let their opposition back in.

When the shots fell, the offense was destructive. When they didn’t, it looked like the six minute stretch that followed when the Ducks hit just two of their next 23 shots. The threes kept coming, the point didn’t.

“We want to shoot,” Young said. “We take good ones. We can shoot over 40% [from three].”

Richardson and Oregon kept firing. And after leading 36-26 after the first half, they exploded in the second. The Ducks finished with 15 assists on 26 baskets.

“We’re gonna be a work in progress through December, but I like the depth of this team,” Altman said. “I like the guys. I think if they become a cohesive unit defensively and offensively they can become a good team.”

The cohesiveness no doubt starts with the lead guard. One game in, Richardson showed he’s bought in. He showed why his teammates and coaches hold his three-point prowess in such high regard, and he’s not afraid to shoot in bunches — contested or not.

Next up, the Ducks host SMU in Matthew Knight Arena on Friday, Nov. 12, with tipoff set for 8 p.m. PT.