University of Oregon
14-9
California
5-17
Ducks, Pritchard Rebound Against Cal
02/06/19 | Men's Basketball
The Oregon men’s basketball team claimed a 73-62 victory over California behind a double-double performance from Payton Pritchard.
EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon men's basketball team claimed a 73-62 victory over California on Wednesday in front of 8,768 fans at Matthew Knight Arena.
Earlier this week, Payton Pritchard said he wanted to see more from himself, and while that's what ended up happening, it was a career-best rebounding effort that got the West Linn, Ore., native untracked.
"The ten rebounds were impressive," said head coach Dana Altman. "They weren't easy rebounds, he went and got them, went back and mixed up and got his boards. I thought that was by far the best part of his game."
Everything clicked for Pritchard as he lead the way for Oregon. The junior guard put his self-admitted offensive slump in the rearview mirror and tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds to record the second double-double of his career.
How It Happened: The game began as less of a basketball game and more of a track meet. While Oregon (14-9, 5-5 Pac-12) and Cal traded baskets, there was only one whistle blown before the first media timeout at 14:43 where the Ducks had a three point lead, 11-8.
Shortly after the break, Cal (5-17, 0-10) took advantage of Oregon's turnovers to go on a quick 7-0 run going up, 15-13. But Payton Pritchard countered for the Ducks, knocking down two three-pointers to reclaim the lead for his team. Pritchard's threes were the beginning of a 17-2 Oregon offensive surge that was capped off by a monsterous put-back dunk by Kenny Wooten. The Ducks' run sent them into the locker room with a sizeable 32-21 lead at halftime.
Oregon finished the half with 22 total rebounds compared to Cal's 12 rebounds. Pritchard lead the way offensively for the Ducks with nine points and seven rebounds while Wooten ended the half with five rebounds and three blocks.
The Ducks used the lead they had built for themselves in the first 20 minutes to stay ahead through the second half. Louis King hit the first shot of the half for the Ducks, knocking down a three right out of the gate to give Oregon a 14-point lead, 35-21.
Oregon would build its lead up to as many as 16 points with 5:52 remaining after some sharp shooting from Ehab Amin, Paul White and Pritchard. The Bears tried to come back with some hot shooting of their own, but Wooten scored seven points in the final two minutes of the game to secure the win for the Ducks.
Who Stood Out: Payton grabbed 10 rebounds for a new career high, he also notched 20 points for his second career double-double … With 12 points, Louis King has reached double figures in nine of the last 10 Pac-12 games … Paul White and Kenny Wooten also scored in double digits with 11 points each.
Notable: With tonight's win, Dana Altman enters the NCAA's top 30 all-time Division I coaching victories with 634 … Payton Pritchard's 20-point performance gives him 1,081 career points, good for 32nd in UO career scoring history.
Quotable:
Dana Altman, Head Coach
On moving forward in the next few weeks…
"Hopefully, we can make a big step here in the next few weeks and continue to get better. I think there is a lot there, and I'm disappointed in myself that we haven't gotten it out of them and that we haven't made better progress. But we had to find a way to win today. We outrebounded them by 10 which I thought was great. I thought Payton Pritchard played great, and I thought Will Richardson's nine assist were great. Take away a couple of turnovers and I thought he played great."
Payton Pritchard, Junior Guard
On the game tonight...
"I liked our pace in this game. Defensively, we got some steals to easy looks. We were running it up. Guys were attacking in the seams and it allowed everyone else to get open."
On if he feels better after seeing the ball go down...
"Definitely. I shot a lot better today. I just have to keep making strides now."
Up Next: The Ducks host Stanford on Sunday, Feb. 6 (5 p.m. PT, ESPN2)
