Game Notes: Ducks Seek Breakthrough in Boulder

Oregon concludes the arduous mountain trip with a visit to Colorado Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Network).

THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Freshman Will Richardson had a breakout game in Thursday's win at Utah. He scored a season-high 19 points with five rebounds and a season-best three blocks. Richardson is shooting 52 percent from the field and averaging 2.4 assists per game.
• 2 – Thursday night at Utah, Will Richardson became the eighth different player to lead the Ducks in scoring this season. Bol Bol led Oregon 6 times (in the 9 games he played), followed by Louis King (5), Payton Pritchard (3), Ehab Amin and Paul White (2), and Victor Bailey Jr., Kenny Wooten and Richardson (1).
• 3 – Thursday night's win at Utah was Oregon's 100th victory over the last four seasons. It is the fifth time in a row that Oregon has won 100 games over a four-season span, all of which have come during the Dana Altman era. Those are also the only five times in program history that Oregon has won 100 games over a four-season time span.
• 4 – After losing Bol Bol for the season and Kenny Wooten for four games due to injuries, Paul White stepped in to fill the void. He has reached double figures in points in eight-of-the-last-nine games, including a career high 19 points Jan. 13 versus USC, and 18 last Sunday against Washington State.
• 5 – Payton Pritchard leads the Pac-12 and is sixth nationally in free throw percentage (.921). He has made 58-of-63 attempts on the season, including hitting 4-of-4 in the final seconds Thursday night at Utah to ice the win for the Ducks.
• BENCH – Oregon has recorded double-digit steals in three-straight games, and in six-of-the-last nine. Ehab Amin, the 2016-17 NCAA steals leader at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, is second in the Pac-12 at 1.8 swipes per game.

NEW BACKCOURT DUO
Will Richardson moved back into the starting lineup last Sunday against Washington State, and the freshman and Payton Pritchard combined for 14 assists and no turnovers. In the seven games this year those two have started together in the backcourt, they have combined for 54 assists and 20 turnovers, for an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7-to-1, an average that would rank second in the Pac-12.

ALTMAN NEARS NCAA CAREER TOP 30
With Oregon's next win, Dana Altman will enter the NCAA's top 30 in all-time Division I coaching victories. He currently has 633 career wins at the Division I level and is one behind Hugh Durham (Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville) and Norm Sloan (Presbyterian, The Citadel, Florida, N.C. State).

WOOTEN MOVES INTO TOP THREE IN UO CAREER BLOCKS
With three blocks Thursday at Utah, Kenny Wooten passed Blair Rasmussen (116/1981-85) for third on the UO career blocks list with 119. Wooten matched a career high with 20 points Jan. 27 against Washington State. Prior to breaking his jaw at Baylor, which caused him to miss the next four games, Wooten set a career-high 20 points Dec. 8 versus Nebraska-Omaha. Wooten's 92 blocks as a freshman ranked third on both the UO single-season list, and the Pac-12 freshman list.

KING LOUIE BREAKS OUT
Freshman Louis King opened Pac-12 play with back-to-back double-doubles and has scored in double figures in all but one league game so far this season. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds Jan. 5 against Oregon State, and followed that with 22 points and 10 rebounds Jan. 10 versus UCLA. Jan. 13 against USC, King had 19 points and a season-best six assists. He just missed his third double-double of the season Feb. 17 at Arizona when he had 10 points and nine rebounds. He led Oregon with 19 points Jan. 24 against Washington before matching his career high with 22 points Jan. 27 versus Washington State. In conference games, King is the Pac-12's No. 9 scorer (16.5 points per game) and No. 9 rebounder (6.8 rebounds per game). 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.

PRITCHARD REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS, 400 CAREER ASSISTS
Jan. 17 at Arizona, Payton Pritchard became the 37th 1,000-point scorer in program history. Jan. 24 versus Washington he passed Glen Moore (1,033/1959-63) for 34th on the UO career scoring list. Pritchard enters the Colorado game with 1,052 points. Former teammate Tyler Dorsey (2015-17) is 33rd with 1,055 points, while Garrett Sim (1,078/2008-12) is 32nd. With a season-best eight assists Jan. 27 against Washington State, Pritchard became just the sixth player in program history with 1,000 career points and 400 career assists. Pritchard moved past former NBA Slam Dunk champion Fred Jones (367/1998-02) for seventh on the UO career assists list Dec. 29 at Boise State and now shows 408 career assists. Luke Jackson (2000-04) is sixth with 424 assists. Pritchard is also climbing the UO career steals list. Jan. 27 against Washington State, he jumped into eighth, passing Aaron Brooks (127/2003-07) and now has 131. Anthony Taylor (147/1984-88) is seventh. Pritchard is also 10th in UO career three-pointers with 170. Jackson (174/2000-04) is ninth.

PRITCHARD AMONG NCAA FREE THROW LEADERS
Payton Pritchard leads the Pac-12 and ranks ixth nationally in free throw percentage at 92.1 percent. Pritchard has made 58-of-63 attempts from the line this season.

500th BOARD MEANS EXCLUSIVE CLUB FOR AMIN
Reaching the 500-rebound plateau Jan. 17 at Arizona, Ehab Amin is now one of only two active college players with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, 200 career assists and 200 career steals. The other is Purdue-Fort Wayne's John Konchar. Amin, who led the NCAA in steals as a junior at Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2016-17, is second in the Pac-12 at 1.8 steals per game. Amin has shown a burst of offense at times as well. He scored 25 points Nov. 15 against Iowa, 23 points Dec,. 29 at Boise State and added 13 Thursday at Utah.

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS
Of Oregon's 12-player roster, 75 percent (9) are either freshmen or sophomores. Duck freshmen have logged 1,527 minutes so far this season (72.7 minutes per game). The three veteran outliers are junior Payton Pritchard, senior Paul White and senior grad transfer Ehab Amin.