Ducks Roll in Nonconference Finale

Sunday, December 29

Eugene, OR

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

11-2,0-0Pac-12

Alabama State

1-12,0-0SWAC

Alabama St.

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

12/29/19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Oregon 98, Alabama State 59

By: Derren Iha

EUGENE, Ore. – No. 6 Oregon dominated the entire way Sunday afternoon in a 98-59 win over Alabama State to close out nonconference play at Matthew Knight Arena. Chris Duarte led the way with a career-high 31 points while the Ducks came away with a season-high 13 steals, led by Will Richardson's arena-record tying six.

How it Happened: After leading 7-4 at the first media timeout, the Ducks blew things open with a 19-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 26-6 lead with under nine minutes left in the half. Oregon hit on seven straight from the field at one point during the run, while connecting on 15-of-21 shots to end the half.

Addison Patterson and Richardson each provided a scoring spark off the bench, with Patterson going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field with 10 points and Richardson adding seven points. Duarte knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the last 90 seconds of the half to stretch the lead to 24 points going into halftime. Oregon also got it done on the defensive end in the first half, holding the Hornets (1-12) to 29 percent from the field while forcing 12 turnovers.

The Ducks (11-2) kept pouring it on to start the second half, scoring the first 11 points of the half to make it 59-24 with 17:10 to play. They connected on 14-of-17 from the field over the first 10 minutes of the second half and led 82-42 as Duarte and Anthony Mathis combined for 25 points over that stretch. From there, the Ducks cruised down the stretch as Duarte finished with 20 second-half points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Who Stood Out: Duarte poured in a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out six assists. His 31 points and 12 made field goals are both the most by an Oregon player this season. Mathis added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 12 points in the second half while Patterson led the Ducks' bench scorers with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Chandler Lawson led Oregon on the boards, grabbing eight while finishing with eight points and Payton Pritchard dished out nine assists.

Quotable: Head coach Dana Altman
On the win…
"We took a big step. It was a step in the right direction after Texas Southern and after the holidays. But going on the road for the conference openers and (traveling to Colorado and Utah) has been really hard on us. We are going to have to play a lot better."

Senior guard Anthony Mathis
On where the team is at heading into conference play…
"I feel pretty good, but we still have a lot of stuff that we need to go through in order to be at our top form. With these games we get a great look at what we need to get better at and improve on when playing in a tough conference. Obviously Colorado is a great team and the same with Utah. They have some really good wins and we really need to sharpen up our toolbox and get better with practice."

Notable: Oregon won its 12th straight in Matthew Knight Arena … The Ducks scored 32 points off of 20 Alabama State turnovers, thanks to a season-high 13 steals … UO had a season-high 28 assists on 39 made field goals, including 17 on 20 after halftime … Oregon has forced an average of 18.7 turnovers per game over the last three after causing 20 today … Each of the nine Ducks that played scored at least four points, highlighted by four players in double figures

Up Next: The Ducks open Pac-12 play on the road Thursday at Colorado (6 p.m., ESPN2).