University of Oregon
1-0
Portland State
0-1
Pritchard, White Pace Ducks in Season Opener
11/06/18 | Men's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. - Much of the pregame attention was focused on Oregon's highly-touted incoming class, but it was the return of Payton Pritchard and Paul White that led the Ducks to an 84-57 victory in the season opener against Portland State in front of 8,212 fans on Tuesday night in Matthew Knight Arena.
White and Pritchard, who both missed the Ducks' exhibition game against Western Oregon, combined for 37 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Freshman Bol Bol recorded his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and rebounds each in his regular season debut.
How It Happened: Oregon got off to a slow start, trailing 13-11 at the 13:52 mark of the first half after starting 4-of-12 from the field. Pritchard paced the Ducks offensively over that span, scoring 10 of Oregon's initial 16 points, while scoring or assisting on 18 of the team's first 24 points.
Oregon (1-0) used a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to take a 15-point lead with 5:10 remaining in the half, which was capped off by a dunk by Kenny Wooten off a lob pass from Abu Kigab. The two teams traded buckets for the rest of the opening period to give Oregon a 45-29 lead at halftime.
Oregon controlled much of the second half as Portland State (0-1) never cut the lead to less than 11. The Ducks did most of their damage at the free throw line, going 16-of-21 after the break while holding the Vikings to just 1-of-16 from three-point range. Bol scored eight of his 12 points in the second half and grabbed six rebounds, while Francis Okoro added eight points and five boards.
Who Stood Out: Pritchard finished with 22 points, 18 of which came in the first half, going 6-for-7 from the field and 9-for-9 at the line. White scored 11 of his 15 points before halftime and finished 5-for-8 on field goals and 2-for-3 from three-point range. Pritchard and White combined for 29 of Oregon's 45 first-half points, on a combined 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 9-of-9 at the line.
Quotable: Head Coach, Dana Altman
On the team figuring out their roles...
"We don't know what everyone can do yet. Some of our older guys have been more consistent than our younger guys, but we gotta get better in practice."
Junior, Payton Pritchard
On the team developing their own personality...
"People are starting to figure out their roles. I feel like with a young team that's the biggest struggle is everyone finding their roles and accepting them. Offensively it's going to be rough at times but it'll pick up."
Notable: Oregon won its 21st consecutive home opener, a streak that dates back to 1998 … Kenny Wooten moved into fourth in career blocked shots at Oregon after just his 37th career game with 95, passing Bob Fife (1989-93) … Pritchard tied Terrell Brandon (1989-91) for eighth in school history in career assists with 315 … Pritchard registered a career-high nine free throws … The Ducks blocked eight shots, getting three each from Bol and Wooten … Four freshmen (Bol, Will Johnson, Okoro and Will Richardson) played in their first collegiate game.
Up Next: The Ducks host Eastern Washington on Friday (6 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).
