Pac-12 Play Opens With A Win

Thursday, December 1

Eugene, OR

7:30 PM

University of Oregon

4-4,1-0Pac-12

Washington State

3-3,0-1Pac-12

Washington St.

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

12/01/22 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The UO men's basketball team beat Washington State on Thursday, 74-60.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — N'Faly Dante scored 16 of his season-high 22 points in the second half Thursday as the Oregon men's basketball team opened Pac-12 Conference play with a 74-60 victory over Washington State before 5,379 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks (4-4) trailed 44-40 in the second half when senior guard Will Richardson scored, got a steal at the other end and then finished an and-one to give Oregon the lead. That sparked a decisive 13-2 run that put the UO men ahead for good, with Dante scoring in the post to cap the run.

"Will, the last three games he's been phenomenal," UO coach Dana Altman said. "I can't say it enough, the transformation he's made, the way he's got guys playing. I'd like to take a little credit for it, but it's all him. He's done a hell of a job. He's really taken ownership, and guys have followed him."

Dante was also outstanding, in his return to action after missing Sunday's win over Villanova. Nate Bittle also missed that game and didn't play Thursday, but the Ducks welcomed transfer Brennan Rigsby to the rotation after he missed the first seven games of the season due to injury.

How It Happened: WSU big man Mouhamed Gueye was the story of the first half, scoring 17 of his 19 points. After Dante finished a play set up by freshman post Kel'el Ware for a 4-2 lead, the Ducks had just one more field goal over the next six minutes and the Cougars took an 11-7 lead.

Richardson's first bucket tied it at 11-11, and he scored again moments later to put Oregon up, 19-17. Rivaldo Soares followed with a floater that made it 21-17, but Gueye scored 11 points in the final six minutes of the half — on everything from dunks to a three-pointer — and the game was tied 32-32 at the break.

"We were just not being physical with him in the first half," Dante said. "We just had to step up, which we did."

Dante set a different tone early in the second half, scoring second-chance baskets for leads of 38-37 and 40-39. After the latter, WSU rallied to go up 44-40. But that's when Richardson changed the game with two quick buckets and a steal in between, sparking the 13-2 run that gave Oregon the lead for good.

The Ducks put on a show late, with Richardson driving and dishing to Dante for a dunk that made it 55-48, Quincy Guerrier making a three-pointer out of a timeout for a 62-52 lead and Dante flushing home an alley-oop from Richardson to make it 68-54.

Who Stood Out: Dante matched his career high of 22 points by making 11-of-16 field-goal attempts, and grabbing seven rebounds. Richardson had 17 points plus eight assists and three steals, and Guerrier added 12 points. The Ducks were plus-16 in the game with Richardson on the floor, and also for the 23 minutes Rigsby played in his debut. Rigsby grabbed six rebounds and had two steals in that time, and also scored his first points in a UO uniform on a follow dunk during Oregon's game-changing 13-2 run.

Notable: Now up to 1,286 career points, Richardson needs 15 more to tie Charlie Warren (1959-62) for 20th on the UO career list. … Richardson's three steals gave him 150 for this career, tied for sixth in UO history with Luke Ridnour (2000-03). Richardson broke a tie Thursday with Anthony Taylor (147, 1984-88) and passed Fred Jones (148, 1998-2002). Next up in the UO top 10 are No. 5 Johnathan Loyd (152, 2010-14) and No. 4 Malcolm Armstead (154, 2010-11). … Richardson is up to 378 assists in his career, eighth in UO history. Luke Jackson is seventh with 424 from 2000-04.

Quotable:

Senior center N'Faly Dante on the impact of senior guard Will Richardson
"We need Will to be a leader. Any time he says something, we all follow. Which is really important. He's everything for the team. I'm glad he's stepped up."

Head coach Dana Altman on his impressions of Brennan Rigsby's debut
"I didn't want to play him that much; I got a little carried away. But he was really playing well — defense, a couple boards. For not playing for a month, offensively it showed, a couple looks he'll normally hit. But the defense: getting a couple of steals, digging down. He did some really good things."

Up Next: The Ducks play at UCLA on Sunday (2 p.m., ESPN).