Game Notes: Pac-12 Play Opens with Civil War

Pac-12 plays begins with the most-contested rivalry in all of college basketball. Oregon and Oregon State will meet in the 351st Civil War Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena (Pac-12 Network). The series between the Ducks and Beavers dates to 1903.

THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense (62.5 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (.374). The Ducks have held nine-of-13 opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field.
• 2 – The Ducks are second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage at 76.4 percent. Oregon has hit 70 percent or better from the line in 10-of-13 games this season.
• 3 – Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 149-17 when holding opponents under 70 points, including a 115-9 mark the last six seasons.
• 4 – The Ducks are 7-1 this season when outrebounding the opposition.
• 5 – Last Saturday at Boise State, Francis Okoro became the 10th different Duck to start a game this season. That's a season high during the Dana Altman era, and the most for the Ducks since 2009-10, when 11 different Ducks made at least one start.
• BENCH - The Ducks had a season-high 14 steals in their last outing at Boise State. That was the most steals by Oregon since they had 14 versus Navy on Dec. 7, 2015.

8-MAN BALL
Oregon won its final non-conference game at Boise State despite only having eight scholarship players dressed for the game. Without their leading scorer, top two rebounders and top two shot blockers, the Ducks used a season-high 14 steals to defeat Boise State 62-50 on Dec. 29. Ehab Amin came off the bench to score 23 points, while Paul White added 13. Amin, White and Victor Bailey Jr. all had three steals. Bol Bol, Kenny Wooten and Abu Kigab all missed the BSU game (and Bol and Wooten are out for the OSU game). 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).

PRITCHARD PASSES JONES IN ASSISTS; 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 Slam Dunk champion Fred Jones (367/1998-02) for seventh on the UO career assists list at Boise State and now shows 371 career assists. Luke Jackson (2000-04) is sixth with 424 assists. Pritchard also has 971 career points coming into the Oregon State game.

WHITE FILLS IN ON FRONT LINE
With Bol Bol and Kenny Wooten sidelined with injuries, Paul White has stepped us his effort the last four games. He has scored in double figures in three of those four games, including 14 and 13 in the two games with Boise State.

VJ PROVIDES A SPARK OFF THE BENCH
Victor Bailey Jr., who ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage (.429), has provided a spark of the bench of late with four double-figure scoring efforts in his last eight 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. He missed the first seven games of the season recovering from a knee injury he suffered in high school.

NORRIS SEES FIRST VARSITY ACTION
Freshman Miles Norris made his varsity debut Dec. 15 against Boise State. He scored 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.