Game Notes: Ducks Prepare for Second Game Against Boise State

Oregon plays round two of a rare same season home-and-home series against Boise State. The Ducks and Broncos will meet on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT in Taco Bell Arena (CBSSN). Oregon won the earlier meeting this season, 66-54, Dec. 15 in Eugene. In that game, Payton Pritchard had 19 points, five rebounds and three steals, Paul White added 14 points and five rebounds and Victor Bailey Jr. came off the bench for 13 points.

THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense (63.6 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (.375). The Ducks have held eight-of-12 opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field.
• 2 – The Ducks also lead the Pac-12 in free throw percentage at 76.2 percent. Oregon has hit 70 percent or better from the line in nine-of-12 games this season.
• 3 – Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 148-17 when holding opponents under 70 points, including a 114-9 mark the last six seasons.
• 4 – The Ducks are 7-1 this season when outrebounding the opposition.
• 5 – Payton Prichard comes into the Boise State game needing two assists to pass Fred Jones for seventh on the UO career assists list.
• BENCH - The Ducks' 12-point win over Boise State on Dec. 15 broke a string of five straight games between the Ducks and Broncos that were decided by single digits.

THE LAST TIME VERSUS BOISE STATE
Playing its first game without freshman phenom Bol Bol, the Oregon men's basketball team found its stride in the second half and beat Boise State, 66-54, Dec. 15 in Matthew Knight Arena. In Bol's absence, Payton Pritchard led the way against the Broncos with 19 points, Paul White added 14 and Victor Bailey Jr. scored 13. With White replacing Bol in the starting lineup, the Ducks didn't find much traction early on. Boise State jumped out to a 13-6 lead, and though Oregon then held the Broncos without a field goal for 6:07 of the first half, the Ducks could only parlay that into an 18-15 lead. Boise State ended its shooting slump with a game-tying three-pointer, then held Oregon scoreless for the final 2:58 of the first half to lead 28-24 at halftime. Francis Okoro played nine minutes in the first half, scoring four points. Oregon's halftime deficit owed in no small part to 34.8 percent shooting, and the Ducks quickly turned that around in the second half. A three-pointer by Louis King gave the Ducks a 29-28 lead after two possessions, and Will Richardson made a reverse layin moments later to put the UO men in the lead for good at 33-32. The Ducks made 7-of-10 attempts to open the second half, shooting 65.0 percent overall after halftime. Pritchard put on a show midway through the second half to keep the Broncos from closing the gap. With Oregon leading 46-41, Pritchard scored nine of the Ducks' next 11 points, crashing the boards to tip in his own miss and wrapping up the run with a three-pointer for a 57-46 lead. Late in the game, Pritchard added an exclamation point, a fallaway three with one second left on the shot clock, to put Oregon up 63-52. The Ducks were outrebounded 18-12 in the first half, but had a 21-8 edge on the boards after halftime.

INJURIES TAKING TOLL
Oregon will be without its leading scorer, top two rebounders and top two shot blockers for the Boise State game. Bol Bol, Kenny Wooten and Abu Kigab have been ruled out for Saturday. Combined, that trio averages 30.2 points, 17.2 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game. Bol is Oregon's top scorer (21.0 ppg), rebounder (9.6 rpg) and shot blocker (2.7 bpg), while Wooten is the Ducks' No. 2 rebounder (4.9 rpg) and shot blocker (1.6 bpg). Additionally, freshman Louis King missed the first seven games of the season recovering from a knee injury he suffered in high school.

DUCKS OVERCOME SHORT BENCH TO DOWN FAMU
Oregon overcame a short bench to defeat Florida A&M Dec. 18 at Matthew Knight Arena. With Bol Bol (foot) and Abu Kigab (ankle) sidelined, and Kenny Wooten limited due to illness, Victor Bailey Jr. made the most of his first career start and matched his season high with 16 points to help the Ducks get by the Rattlers 71-64. Paul White contributed 13 points, while Payton Pritchard had 10 points, four assists and four steals.

PRITCHARD CLOSING IN ON JONES; EYES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Payton Pritchard entered his junior year on pace to break Kenya Wilkins' UO career assists record of 614 and he's also increased his scoring to approach 1,000 career points. Pritchard moved past former NBA all-star Terrell Brandon (315/1989-91) for eighth on the UO career assists list against Eastern Washington and now shows 366 career assists. He needs just two more assists to pass Fred Jones (1998-02), who is seventh with 367 assists. Pritchard also has 968 career points coming into the Boise State game.

VJ PROVIDES A SPARK OFF THE BENCH
Victor Bailey Jr., who ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage (.447), has provided a spark of the bench of late with four double-figure scoring efforts in his last seven games. He had just one double-figure game in Oregon's first five contests. Bailey Jr. is also shooting .952 from the free throw line (20-of-21).

RICHARDSON RISES
Freshman Will Richardson recently set a season high in scoring in four consecutive games. He had seven points against Syracuse, 10 against Green Bay, 13 versus Texas Southern and 16 at Houston. On the year, he's shooting 57 percent from the field, 71 percent at the free throw line and also dishing out 2.3 assists per game.

KING LOUIE DEBUT
Freshman Louis King made his Oregon debut Dec. 8 against Omaha and made efficient use of his minutes. He scored 11 points on four-of-six shooting from the field (three-of-four 3FG) in 16 minutes.

NORRIS SEES FIRST VARSITY ACTION
Freshman Miles Norris made his varsity debut Dec. 15 against Boise State. He scord his first career points Dec. 18 versus Florida A&M. His mother Christina (Metzger) Norris played on Oregon's women's team from 1982-84