Oregon men’s basketball defeated Eastern Washington 69-52 on Monday night in Matthew Knight Arena. The win marks the program’s 23rd consecutive win in a home-opener. 

While entering the game 0-2, Eastern Washington showed early that it was more than capable of keeping up with the Ducks. The Eagles had proved as much in their prior games, losing by just three to both Washington State and Arizona — games in which they led at halftime. 

The Eagles came out fast, using crisp ball movement and frenetic defense, energized by their rowdy bench, to keep the game deadlocked for the first ten minutes. 

Oregon forward Eugene Omoruyi — the nation’s sixth-leading scorer who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week — contributed five of the Ducks’ first six points, but was relegated to the bench early with a pair of fouls. Without their offensive catalyst, the Ducks were forced to look elsewhere to create offense. Point guard Amauri Hardy finally found his stride. The UNLV transfer who earned a starting job in the wake of Will Richardson’s six-week injury, looked comfortable for the first time in a Ducks uniform. 

After tallying just eight assists to seven turnovers in the Ducks’ first two games, Hardy ended the first half with five assists. Hardy navigated the Eagles’ defense, penetrating the paint, dropping it off to Ducks big men and wings. 

Hardy’s passing pushed the Ducks on top by two with just seconds to go before halftime. After an Eagles’ miss, freshman guard Jalen Terry grabbed the rebound and screamed down the court with under four seconds remaining for a buzzer-beating layup. 

The Ducks headed to the locker room with a 36-32 lead after a 12-point first half from Eastern Washington’s Jacob Davison kept things tight throughout the first 20 minutes. 

In the second half, Oregon’s vast advantage in height and athleticism took precedence. As the Eagles desperately launched threes (5-26 on the night), the Ducks wore them down in the paint and on the glass. 

Five minutes into the second half, Oregon took a seven-point lead, 41-34, and looked poised to bust the game wide open. 

But it was unforced turnovers, the Ducks’ largest weakness thus far this season, that helped the Eagles keep the game within reach. 

Omoruyi (18 points) looked virtually unguardable on the block. The forward used his superb footwork to pull off up-and-unders, spins and drop steps, as he repeatedly abused Eastern Washington defenders. 

The Eagles double-teamed the forward to no avail. The Rutgers’ transfer dished the ball back out to the wings with ease, jump starting the Oregon offense as the Ducks took an 11 point lead with 13 minutes to go. 

With center N’Faly Dante seeing next to no playing time in the second half for the second consecutive game, and forward Chris Duarte struggling from the field, transfer wings Eric Williams Jr. and LJ Figueroa were the difference. The duo of Williams and Figueroa finished with 17 and 12 points respectively while adding 10 rebounds a piece. 

The Ducks outrebounded the Eagles 45-31 on the night. 

As Figueroa flashed his length on defense and finished some nifty baskets around the rim, Williams made his killing from behind the three-point line, hitting a trio of them. The last, coming with just under three minutes to go, all but sealed the game for the Ducks as they took a 64-51 lead. 

The Ducks will stay in Eugene as they await Florida A&M on Wednesday before opening conference play on Dec. 12 against Washington in Seattle.