It’s New Years Eve and the Oregon men’s basketball team now has something to celebrate: Its first Pac-12 win of the season.
The Ducks took down the Colorado Buffaloes, 77-62, at home on Sunday night. This brings the Ducks’ record to 11-4 on the season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play.
Oregon “came out with a lot of fire,” going on a 7-0 run to start the game and led 37-28 at half. Unlike against Utah on Friday, the Ducks held on to that halftime lead and extended it to as much as 17.
“Our energy was much better,” Altman said. “Big step from the other night. Our energy and activity were much better.”
Freshman Troy Brown led the charge, scoring a career-best 21 points, along with seven rebounds and a career-high four steals.
Three other Ducks scored in the double digits, including Elijah Brown, Kenny Wooten and Payton Pritchard.
Against Utah, Wooten was barely involved in the offense. He did not even attempt a single basket during his 27 minutes on the court. Today, he went 4-4 for 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
“We weren’t mad that they didn’t give me the ball last game, we just had to look at it more this game,” Wooten said. “… [Coach] told our guards to look inside more and they did today, so that’s how we got the win.”
Altman said that they need to get Wooten the ball more, but at the same time, Wooten needs to call for it.
“Kenny’s been solid. We haven’t been getting him the ball enough — guys just don’t look and he never calls for it,” Altman said. He’s got to start calling for the ball and making those guys throw it to him.”
Redshirt junior Paul White made his return after sitting out for two games due to a concussion. He was visibly rusty, shooting 1-4. Despite the rough return, Altman was happy to have him back.
“Paul just executes and gets us in things,” Altman said. “He wasn’t sharp tonight, you could tell he’d been out a long time, but he’s a calming influence on us. … He handles the ball OK and helps us run some stuff. As he gets back in shape, he’ll be a lot sharper than he was tonight.”
Roman Sorkin did not play following an injury against Utah that Altman says occurred during a charge when Sorkin ran into another player. Sorkin was unable to practice yesterday or today.
The Ducks will head into the New Year with the Civil War in mind, as Oregon faces the Beavers in Corvallis on Friday.
Follow Kylee O’Connor on Twitter @kyleethemightee