Saturday, December 21
Eugene, OR
7:30 PM
University of Oregon
10-2,0-0Pac-12
84
vs
78
Texas Southern
3-8,0-0SWAC
1
2
F
Texas Southern
33
45
78
Oregon
36
48
84
An Off Night, But A Win For UO Men
12/21/19 | Men's Basketball
The No. 8 Ducks got off to a slow start and struggled to sustain consistent play Saturday night, but surged in the end to beat Texas Southern, 84-78.
EUGENE, Ore. — Payton Pritchard scored 16 of Oregon's last 18 points on his way to a career-high-tying 29 on Saturday night, helping the No. 8 Ducks avoid an upset at the hands of Texas Southern with an 84-78 victory before 6,764 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
Will Richardson added a season-high 18 for Oregon, which trailed much of the first half and as late as with 4:23 left in the game. But after losing to Texas Southern last season, the Ducks were able to pull out Saturday's game.
"We just stayed in it and kept fighting," Richardson said. "A lot of balls weren't bouncing our way, some calls weren't going our way, but we stuck with it. We played slow as a team; it wasn't a good win. But we won."
How It Happened: The teams traded baskets back-and-forth from the outset, but in a hint of things to come, consecutive turnovers by the Ducks allowed Texas Southern to get an early cushion. A putback by N'Faly Dante got Oregon (10-2) within 12-11, but the Tigers surged to a 19-11 lead.
"We've got to learn from this," Pritchard said. "Our energy was just kind of bad from the jump. We've got to pick it up."
The Ducks finally got going after falling behind 26-13. Anthony Mathis hit a three-pointer to spark an 11-0 run capped by a Richardson three-pointer. After Texas Southern ended the run, Oregon scored another nine straight, capped by another Richardson three-pointer, and he hit a third for Oregon's final points of the first half, which saw the Ducks lead 36-33 entering halftime.
The Tigers opened the second half on a 12-5 run to regain the lead. Oregon used another 11-0 run to get back in front, a run that began on a Pritchard three-pointer and ended with a three-point play by the UO senior. Texas Southern managed to battle back in front a couple more times, but Pritchard took command down the stretch, and the Ducks escaped with a win.
"You shoot the ball 52 percent … your numbers should be a lot better," UO coach Dana Altman said. "But 19 turnovers kind of takes away from that. … I hope it's just that we had one foot out the door for Christmas. But we have a lot of work to do."
Who Stood Out: Pritchard scored in double figures for the 12th game in a row, and reached 1,538 points for his career. That's 13th in UO history, after Pritchard passed Aaron Brooks (1,511, 2003-07) during Saturday's game. Richardson's season-high 18 came on 6-of-11 shooting, and Duarte's back-to-back threes helped him finished with 13. Francis Okoro followed up his 17-rebound performance Wednesday with a team-high seven Saturday.
What It Means: Texas Southern provided Oregon with a wake-up call for the second year in a row, but this time the Ducks managed to win despite receiving a scare.
Notable: The Ducks committed a season-high 19 turnovers, one more than they had in their win over Memphis at Moda Center in Portland. … An estimated 450 kids and their families attended the game as beneficiaries of a fundraiser organized by Matt Prehm of the Oregon athletics fan web site DuckTerritory. The fundraiser also provided tickets for some 800 kids to attend Saturday's earlier UO women's game. … Pritchard has now won the second-most games of anyone ever to play for the Ducks, 91, trailing only Johnathan Loyd's 97 from 2010-14.
Up Next: Oregon has a holiday break before returning to action at home against Alabama State on Dec. 29 (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Will Richardson added a season-high 18 for Oregon, which trailed much of the first half and as late as with 4:23 left in the game. But after losing to Texas Southern last season, the Ducks were able to pull out Saturday's game.
"We just stayed in it and kept fighting," Richardson said. "A lot of balls weren't bouncing our way, some calls weren't going our way, but we stuck with it. We played slow as a team; it wasn't a good win. But we won."
How It Happened: The teams traded baskets back-and-forth from the outset, but in a hint of things to come, consecutive turnovers by the Ducks allowed Texas Southern to get an early cushion. A putback by N'Faly Dante got Oregon (10-2) within 12-11, but the Tigers surged to a 19-11 lead.
"We've got to learn from this," Pritchard said. "Our energy was just kind of bad from the jump. We've got to pick it up."
The Ducks finally got going after falling behind 26-13. Anthony Mathis hit a three-pointer to spark an 11-0 run capped by a Richardson three-pointer. After Texas Southern ended the run, Oregon scored another nine straight, capped by another Richardson three-pointer, and he hit a third for Oregon's final points of the first half, which saw the Ducks lead 36-33 entering halftime.
The Tigers opened the second half on a 12-5 run to regain the lead. Oregon used another 11-0 run to get back in front, a run that began on a Pritchard three-pointer and ended with a three-point play by the UO senior. Texas Southern managed to battle back in front a couple more times, but Pritchard took command down the stretch, and the Ducks escaped with a win.
"You shoot the ball 52 percent … your numbers should be a lot better," UO coach Dana Altman said. "But 19 turnovers kind of takes away from that. … I hope it's just that we had one foot out the door for Christmas. But we have a lot of work to do."
Who Stood Out: Pritchard scored in double figures for the 12th game in a row, and reached 1,538 points for his career. That's 13th in UO history, after Pritchard passed Aaron Brooks (1,511, 2003-07) during Saturday's game. Richardson's season-high 18 came on 6-of-11 shooting, and Duarte's back-to-back threes helped him finished with 13. Francis Okoro followed up his 17-rebound performance Wednesday with a team-high seven Saturday.
What It Means: Texas Southern provided Oregon with a wake-up call for the second year in a row, but this time the Ducks managed to win despite receiving a scare.
Notable: The Ducks committed a season-high 19 turnovers, one more than they had in their win over Memphis at Moda Center in Portland. … An estimated 450 kids and their families attended the game as beneficiaries of a fundraiser organized by Matt Prehm of the Oregon athletics fan web site DuckTerritory. The fundraiser also provided tickets for some 800 kids to attend Saturday's earlier UO women's game. … Pritchard has now won the second-most games of anyone ever to play for the Ducks, 91, trailing only Johnathan Loyd's 97 from 2010-14.
Up Next: Oregon has a holiday break before returning to action at home against Alabama State on Dec. 29 (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Team Stats
TSU
Oregon
FG%
.453
.520
3FG%
.345
.400
FT%
.769
.815
RB
31
31
TO
16
19
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
15
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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