Ducks Face No. 13 Seton Hall in Battle 4 Atlantis

No. 11 Oregon opens the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis against No. 13 Seton Hall (4-1) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time at the Imperial Arena in Paradise Island, Bahamas (ESPN2).

THE STARTING FIVE
• 1 – The only previous meeting between Oregon and Seton Hall was a memorable one. The Pirates defeated the Ducks 72-71 in overtime in a 2000 NCAA Tournament first round game in Buffalo, N.Y. Shaheen Holloway - now the head coach at St. Peter's - drove the length of the court for a last-second layin for the Pirates.
• 2 – Oregon's longest active winning streak, 15 games, is against Gonzaga. It is a streak that dates back to the 1930-31 season.
• 3 – Two players remain from the Ducks' last meeting with Michigan, a 69-68 Oregon win in the 2017 NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Payton Pritchard was Oregon's starting point guard in that game, while Zavier Simpson came off the bench for the Wolverines. Michigan's Jon Teske and Austin Davis were on the roster but did not play against the Ducks.
• 4 – The 2017 NCAA Tournament is also the last time the Ducks and North Carolina met. The Tar Heels won 77-76 in a national semifinal and would go on to win the 2017 NCAA title. Pritchard is the only remaining player who played in that game.
• 5 – Now the winningest coach in Oregon history, Dana Altman is one of six active head coaches in NCAA Division I who have posted a winning record for the last 22 consecutive seasons. The other five, Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Bill Self and Jim Boeheim, are in the Hall of Fame.

PERIMETER PATROL
After holding Houston to just 2-of-20 shooting (10.0 percent) from downtown last week, the Ducks lead the Pac-12 and rank fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense at 20.5 percent (27-of-132). The Ducks have held all five opponents below 27 percent from three-point range this season. Conversely, the Ducks are third in the Pac-12 and eighth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.427).

LEADERS OF THE PACK
The Ducks are in the midst of a unique stretch of four non-conference games against teams that were picked first or second in their respective preseason polls. That run began with Memphis (tie-1st, American Athletic) and includes UT Arlington (2nd, Sun Belt), Houston (tie-1st, American Athletic) and Seton Hall (1st, Big East). If Oregon faces Gonzaga (1st, West Coast) in the Battle 4 Atlantis, that string would extend to five consecutive games. A meeting with North Carolina (2nd, ACC) on the final day of the tournament would make a half dozen straight games against top-two teams.

VETS LEADING THE WAY
The Ducks have leaned on their veterans in opening the year 5-0. Oregon's top three scorers - Payton Pritchard (19.4 ppg), Anthony Mathis (15.0 ppg) and Shakur Juiston (9.8 ppg) - are all seniors with junior Chris Duarte (9.0 ppg) fourth.

PRITCHARD AND RON LEE IN CLUB OF TWO
Payton Pritchard is now one of just two players in program history with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds, joining UO Hall of Famer Ron Lee. Pritchard passed Luke Ridnour for third on the UO career assists list against Boise State.

FOR THE DEFENSE
Oregon held UT Arlington to its worst shooting performance in school history on Nov. 17. The Mavericks made 15-of-64 field goal attempts (23.4 percent). After letting UTA take a 14-11 lead with 14:00 to go in the first, the Mavericks scored just 33 points the in final 34 minutes of the game. That was the best defensive effort for the Ducks since holding Eastern Washington to 23.1 percent from the field last season (Nov. 9, 2018). Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 166-20 when holding opponents under 70 points, including a 131-12 mark the last six seasons.

PRITCHARD IN PAC-12 TOP FIVE IN SCORING, ASSISTS
Payton Pritchard is the only player ranked in the Pac-12's top five in scoring (19.4 ppg) and assists (5.4 apg).

MATHIS PACES PAC-12 IN THREES AND 3-FG PCT.
Senior transfer Anthony Mathis currently leads the Pac-12 in three-pointers per game (4.0) and three-point field goal percentage (.645). Nationally' those marks rank seventh and fourth, respectively. He had a breakout game Nov. 9 against Boise State when he scored a career-high 30 points - including a Matthew Knight Arena record nine three-pointers. Mathis is also second in the league in overall field goal percentage (.605).

DUCKS KNOCK OFF TOP-13 NON-CONFERENCE FOE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 23 YEARS
The Ducks' 82-74 win over No. 13 Memphis on Nov. 12 marked the first time in 23 years that Oregon defeated a non-conference opponent ranked 13th or higher during the regular season. The last time that happened was Dec. 7, 1996, when the Ducks defeated No. 13 Fresno State 87-75 at McArthur Court. In fact, there is only one other occasion when Oregon defeated a non-conference team ranked higher than 13th during the regular season. The Ducks defeated No. 10 Providence 86-73 in Eugene on Jan. 4, 1975.

ALTMAN ALONE ATOP OREGON'S WINS LIST
Dana Altman became the school's all-time winningest coach when Oregon defeated Fresno State in the 2019-20 season opener. He passed Ernie Kent, who won 235 games in 13 seasons (1998-2010) with the Ducks.

WOODEN UP NEXT FOR ALTMAN
Dana Altman is currently 29th in all-time NCAA Division I coaching wins with 650. No. 28 on that list is John Wooden, who had 664 career wins for Indiana State and UCLA.