Ducks Face Eighth Top-25 Opponent of 2019-20 in No. 24 Arizona

No. 14 Oregon's faces its eighth ranked opponent of the 2019-20 season Saturday at No. 24 Arizona (6 p.m. PT, ESPN).

THE STARTING FIVE
• 1 – Oregon will match a program record by playing its eighth game versus a ranked opponent, equalling the 1994-95 season.
• 2 – Thursday's game against Arizona State marked the first time this season an opponent had more steals the than Ducks.
• 3 – Last Sunday against Utah, Dana Altman passed John Wooden for 26th on the NCAA Division I coaching wins list. Altman now has 665 Division I wins. Wooden, the Hall of Famer who coached Indiana State and UCLA, has 664 wins.
• 4 – Payton Pritchard is one of just two players nationally - and the only one from a Power Six team - leading his team in both scoring and assists. He was named the Naismith national player of the week on Monday.
• 5 – Will Richardson has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, including a career-high 21 points Feb. 13 against Colorado. He's averaging 15.7 points per game in that span and hitting 58.3 percent from three-point range (14-of-24). Richardson leads the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage, .479, a mark that would rank fifth in UO single-season history.
• BENCH – Payton Pritchard now holds three school records - assists (638), wins (101) and starts (136). He is also on pace to become Oregon's career leader in steals (needs seven more) and games played (needs five more).
• BENCH – Payton Pritchard is the first player in Pac-12 history to reach 1,800 career points, 600 career assists and 500 career rebounds. He is just the fourth player in Pac-12 history with 1,800 career points and 600 career assists.
• BENCH – Dana Altman now has 23 consecutive winning seasons as a head coach, matching five Hall of Famers - Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Bill Self and Jim Boeheim - with an active streak of 23 or more consecutive winning seasons. • 2 – Last Sunday's win against Utah was Oregon's 20th win of the season. That's a school-record 10th straight 20-win season for the Ducks. This is also the Ducks' 10th straight winning season, tying an 88-year-old school record.

DUCKS TO FACE RECORD EIGHTH RANKED OPPONENT OF 2019-20
Oregon will play its eighth ranked opponent this season, No. 24 Arizona, on Saturday. That will equal the program record for most ranked opponents - eight - faced during the regular season. The only other time the Ducks have seen eight ranked foes during the regular season was 1994-95. By definition, "regular season" includes Pac-12 Tournament games, but not NCAA Tournament or NIT games.

RUN OF STEALS COMES TO AN END
Thursday's game at Arizona State marked the first time this season that an opponent had more steals than Oregon (six to nine). Prior to Thursday, The Ducks have had more steals than the opposition 23 times and have tied in steals three times. Oregon leads the Pac-12 at 8.0 steals per game.

PRITCHARD LEADS PAC-12 IN SCORING AND ASSISTS
Entering the weekend, Payton Pritchard leads the Pac-12 in both scoring (19.4 points per game) and assists (5.6 per game). He is one of only two players nationally leading his conference in scoring and assists. Jermaine Marrow of Hampton (Big South) is the other. Pritchard is the only player ranked in the Pac-12's top five in scoring and assists. By scoring 20 points with 11 assists Dec. 7 against Hawaii, Pritchard became the first Duck with a 20-point, 10-assist game since Johnathan Loyd in 2013-14.

DUCKS NET TENTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
Last Sunday versus Utah, Oregon won its 20th game of the season. That is the school-record 10th straight 20-win season for the Ducks. Oregon is currently one of 10 schools nationally that have won at least 20 games for the last 10 consecutive seasons (Cincinnati and North Carolina could also reach that mark this year).
Teams with 10+ 20-Win Seasons:
Belmont, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon, Saint Mary's, Vermont and Wichita State.

ALTMAN PASSES WOODEN
Last Sunday against Utah, Dana Altman passed John Wooden for 26th on the all-time NCAA Division I coaching wins list. Altman now has won 665 games as a Division I head coach. Wooden, the Hall of Fame coach for Indiana State and UCLA, won 664 games. Gary Williams is 25th with 668 wins.

SECOND HALF SURGE
Under coach Dana Altman, Oregon has a 59-27 record (.686) during the second half of Pac-12 play. That breaks down to 4-5 in 2011, 7-2 in 2012, 5-4 in 2013, 7-2 in 2014, 8-1 in 2015, 7-2 in 2016, 8-1 in 2017, 5-4 in 2018, 6-3 in 2019 and 2-3 in 2020. The last six years, Oregon is 30-7 after Valentine's Day in Pac-12 Conference games (credit to Pac-12 Network's JB Long for that note).

PRITCHARD GARNERS THIRD NATIONAL POTW HONORS
Senior Payton Pritchard has earned national player of the week honors for the third time this season. Monday, the Naismith Trophy recognized Pritchard for his efforts in Oregon's wins over No. 16 Colorado on Feb. 13 (68-60) and Utah on Feb. 16 (80-62). Against the Buffaloes, Pritchard scored 15 points with a career-high 11 rebounds for his fourth career double-double. He followed that up on Sunday with 25 points against the Utes, including five-of-nine from three point range. Pritchard was earlier named national player of the week by NCAA March Madness (NCAA.com) following his efforts in the Ducks' sweep of Arizona and Arizona State (Jan. 9-11). Pritchard had 17 points - including the game-tying bucket that sent the game to overtime - along with seven rebounds and six assists against No. 24 Arizona. He followed that by tying his career high with 29 points against Arizona State, hitting 6-of-9 from three-point range. He was named the Oscar Robertson Trophy national player of the week following the Ducks' win at No. 5 Michigan.

AWARDS SEASON: IMPRESSIVE RESUME LANDS PRITCHARD ON MULTIPLE WATCH LISTS
Senior Payton Pritchard is on the current watch lists for the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Bob Cousy Award. And on Monday, he picked up his third national player of the week honor this season, this time by the Naismith Trophy. Pritchard is one of 20 players nationally named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List; he is one of 30 members of the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team; he is one of 12 players selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for its 2019-20 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List; and he is one of 10 final candidates for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Pritchard is one of four players nationally averaging at least 19 points, four rebounds and five assists per game. A three-time national player of the week honoree this season (Naismith Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy, NCAA.com), Pritchard leads the nation with 135 consecutive starts. He is the only player in Pac-12 history with 1,800 career points, 600 career assists and 500 career rebounds. Already the school's record holder in assists (638), wins (101) and games started (136), Pritchard is also on pace to become the school's career leader in steals and games played and could become just the second 2,000-point scorer in program history. Previously this season, he was named to the Pac-12 preseason first team, the Battle 4 Atlantis all-tournament team and the Sporting News Midseason All-America team.

WILL FINDS A WAY
Sophomore Will Richardson has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, including 18 Thursday at Arizona State. He's averaging 15.7 points per game in that span and hitting 58.3 percent from three-point range (14-of-24). Richardson leads the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage, .479, a mark that would rank fifth in UO single-season history. Last Sunday against Utah, he made all four three-point attempts on his way to 18 points. He also matched his season high with six assists. Feb. 13 against Colorado, he tied his career high with 21 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. During the team's recent trip to the Bay Area, he led the team with 17 points Feb. 1 at Stanford and had 15 points and four assists Jan. 30 at California. He scored a career-high 21 points Jan. 9 versus Arizona including the go-ahead bucket with :15 left in overtime. Richardson leads the Pac-12 with nine double-figure scoring games off the bench. He had a career-high six steals Dec. 29 against Alabama State.