Coming off a loss Friday night and without their leading scorer and three-point shooter Chris Duarte, the Ducks grinded out a win Sunday against the Huskies.
Duarte, who sported sweatpants and a walking boot for Saturday’s matchup against Washington, was sidelined in addition to Eric Williams Jr. and N’Faly Dante. Duarte is Oregon’s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game — fifth in the Pac-12 conference — and the best three-point shooting percentage at 45.1 percent — the fourth best in the Pac-12.
After playing off the rust from last game’s loss, the Ducks completed a season sweep of the Huskies, coming out victorious 86-74. Oregon looked sloppy in its loss on Friday with unforced turnovers, they didn’t secure the ball on offense and had missed opportunities in the final possessions.
On Saturday, they needed an all-around effort, and that’s what they got.
The Ducks came out with energy from the start, they packed the paint and contested anyone that attempted to drive through their man-to-man defense.
“I thought overall, other than a few casual turnovers and some missed assignments, defensively we made a step in the right direction,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.
That same energy level converted to the offensive end where Oregon shared the wealth and resulted in every player who entered the game scored at least three points in the first half.
Halfway through the first half, each Oregon starter had scored, highlighted by Eugene Omoruyi’s 12 points, three assists and three turnovers.
“If you take out those turnovers, or even cut it down to one, I would have been super pleased with his performance,” Altman said.
Oregon’s bench picked it up after a lackluster outing against Washington State. Franck Kepnang in particular, made his presence felt. The first-year big man flashed his touch inside, scoring eight first half points, as well as instincts as a rim protector with two huge blocks in the first half.This ignited a first half Oregon 8-0 run in 56 seconds, led by Kepnang.
Oregon headed into the locker room after a buzzer-beating three from Omoruyi that increased their lead 42-31 at the half.
The Ducks didn’t let their foot off the gas pedal coming into the second half. Freshman guard Jalen Terry hit four threes in consecutive offensive possessions, blowing the game open with a 20-point Oregon lead. He ended with 15 points on 5-for-7 perimeter shooting.
“He’s probably one of the best shooters on the team, so let it fly,” Oregon’s Will Richardson said. “When he saw the first one go down, he realized that he can really compete at this level.”
The Huskies had no answer for Oregon’s offensive explosion and let up 20 points on 11 turnovers. The Ducks whipped the ball around the perimeter, found the gaps in the Huskies’ zone defense, were patient with the ball and crashed the offensive glass with ten, compared to Washington’s three.
“We really wanted to get the ball in the middle and tried to get as many inside-out threes as we could,” Altman said. “I think that’s one of the reasons that our percentage was high.”
Richardson looked sharper in his second game back after missing months of play due to a broken finger. The guard finished with 19 points on 50% perimeter shooting. Omoruyi was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points, five rebounds, three assists and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Kepnang and guard Amauri Hardy added eight apiece.
With the little fight they had left, the Huskies held the Ducks scoreless for three and a half minutes, but they couldn’t make the game-changing run that they needed to get back into it.
After facing a slew of injuries and near back-to-back COVID-19 program pauses, the Ducks still stand in the middle of the Pac-12 standings in sixth place.
“This gives our team the confidence we’ve been lacking and just brings us together,” Richardson said. “We just have to keep taking steps from there and keep doing it.”
Oregon will head to the desert next week to play the Arizona schools — Arizona State on Thursday and Arizona on Saturday.
Follow Carly on Twitter @carlyebisuya
