Thursday, January 26
Eugene, OR
6:00 PM
University of Oregon
12-9,6-4Pac-12
75
vs
69
Colorado
12-10,4-7Pac-12
1
2
F
Colorado
26
43
69
Oregon
32
43
75
Photo by: Isaac Wasserman
Bittle Leads Ducks To Win Over Buffs
01/26/23 | Men's Basketball
Oregon got a career night from sophomore Nate Bittle to win despite the absence of big man N'Faly Dante.
EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon men's basketball team won for the third time in four games Thursday to wrap up the first half of conference play with some positive momentum, holding off Colorado for a 75-69 victory before 5,680 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
Playing without big man N'Faly Dante due to a minor injury suffered in warmups, the Ducks got a career night from sophomore Nate Bittle to avenge a one-sided defeat in Boulder earlier this season. Oregon improved to 12-9 overall and hit the midway point of Pac-12 play at 6-4, two games behind first-place UCLA.
"We've just got to play the games as they come, try to finish as high as we can, do the best we can," UO coach Dana Altman said. "We're halfway through, 6-4; we're going to have to do better in the second half. But we (play) everybody who's ahead of us. So we have a chance. We've just got to get better — we've got to play better, we've got to play tougher."
Bittle tied his career high with 11 points, set a new career high of 13 rebounds and tied another career high with four blocked shots. Quincy Guerrier also stepped up with 16 points and six rebounds, and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points against the team from which he transferred to Oregon.
"Our team just played crazy tonight," Bittle said. "We knew what we had to do tonight, and we came out and did what we had to do. We've just got to keep building."
How It Happened: The Ducks relied on the three out of the gate, perhaps not surprising given Dante's absence. But once they committed to attacking the basket, Jermaine Couisnard, Guerrier and Ke'lel Ware all got to the rim within a span of four possessions to cut an early deficit to 10-9.
The Buffs led 17-13 when Oregon tilted momentum. Barthelemy hit a three out of a timeout, Bittle rebounded a Colorado miss and then made a go-ahead three at the other end, and then Bittle drew a charge back on the defensive end. The Buffs briefly regained the lead at 22-21, but Oregon scored second-chance points on two straight possessions to go back up 25-22, and the Ducks didn't trail again in the game.
"We were down on the boards there for a little bit, and then we went up on the boards and I think that's when we made our little push," Bittle said. "It was really just a big team win."
Oregon led 32-26 at halftime, and a surge to open the second half got the lead to 44-33 on a three-point play by Will Richardson. The Ducks got the lead back to 11 a few minutes later, when Barthelemy hit a three for a 57-46 advantage over his old team.
"I'm motivated every game," Barthelemy said. "We took that game plan seriously, we executed and we came out with a win."
A few possessions earlier, Colorado had begun pressing full court after made baskets, and soon after the Ducks began to succumb. Oregon turned it over five times in a span of six possessions, during which the Buffs mounted a 9-0 run to get within 57-55. After a 6-0 run by the Ducks capped off by a Guerrier dunk, Colorado surged again and got within 63-62.
But Oregon held on again, getting buckets from Guerrier on the next two offensive possessions and rebounds from Bittle on the next two defensive possessions. Bittle added his fourth block of the game in the final minute, as well.
"Colorado's really good at the rim, and Nate not only blocked four, he changed a lot more," Altman said. "There's no doubt without his performance tonight, we don't get it done."
Notable: Altman said Dante tweaked a knee in warmups but sounded hopeful the injury would be short-term. … Bittle's previous career highs of 11 points and six rebounds were set at California a week ago. … Richardson is up to 449 assists for his career, seventh in UO history just behind Johnathan Loyd (458, 2010-14). … Richardson played in his 136th career game with the Ducks on Thursday, tying for fourth in UO history with Garrett Sim (2008-12).
Quotable:
Junior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy on Oregon's struggles with the press
"Looking at that film, other teams are probably going to be salivating over that. We've got good, experienced guards. We've just got to get open and be strong with the ball, and we'll be all right."
Head coach Dana Altman, who has been encouraging Guerrier not to be too reliant on three-pointers
"It's good to see them play to their strengths a little bit. Quincy takes 11 shots, eight of them are inside the three. … He used his athleticism and got to the rim, shot a couple free throws. So I hope he sees that, he feels that — and we'll definitely show him the film tomorrow to show him what he did."
Up Next: The Ducks host Utah in Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Playing without big man N'Faly Dante due to a minor injury suffered in warmups, the Ducks got a career night from sophomore Nate Bittle to avenge a one-sided defeat in Boulder earlier this season. Oregon improved to 12-9 overall and hit the midway point of Pac-12 play at 6-4, two games behind first-place UCLA.
"We've just got to play the games as they come, try to finish as high as we can, do the best we can," UO coach Dana Altman said. "We're halfway through, 6-4; we're going to have to do better in the second half. But we (play) everybody who's ahead of us. So we have a chance. We've just got to get better — we've got to play better, we've got to play tougher."
Bittle tied his career high with 11 points, set a new career high of 13 rebounds and tied another career high with four blocked shots. Quincy Guerrier also stepped up with 16 points and six rebounds, and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points against the team from which he transferred to Oregon.
"Our team just played crazy tonight," Bittle said. "We knew what we had to do tonight, and we came out and did what we had to do. We've just got to keep building."
How It Happened: The Ducks relied on the three out of the gate, perhaps not surprising given Dante's absence. But once they committed to attacking the basket, Jermaine Couisnard, Guerrier and Ke'lel Ware all got to the rim within a span of four possessions to cut an early deficit to 10-9.
The Buffs led 17-13 when Oregon tilted momentum. Barthelemy hit a three out of a timeout, Bittle rebounded a Colorado miss and then made a go-ahead three at the other end, and then Bittle drew a charge back on the defensive end. The Buffs briefly regained the lead at 22-21, but Oregon scored second-chance points on two straight possessions to go back up 25-22, and the Ducks didn't trail again in the game.
"We were down on the boards there for a little bit, and then we went up on the boards and I think that's when we made our little push," Bittle said. "It was really just a big team win."
Oregon led 32-26 at halftime, and a surge to open the second half got the lead to 44-33 on a three-point play by Will Richardson. The Ducks got the lead back to 11 a few minutes later, when Barthelemy hit a three for a 57-46 advantage over his old team.
"I'm motivated every game," Barthelemy said. "We took that game plan seriously, we executed and we came out with a win."
A few possessions earlier, Colorado had begun pressing full court after made baskets, and soon after the Ducks began to succumb. Oregon turned it over five times in a span of six possessions, during which the Buffs mounted a 9-0 run to get within 57-55. After a 6-0 run by the Ducks capped off by a Guerrier dunk, Colorado surged again and got within 63-62.
But Oregon held on again, getting buckets from Guerrier on the next two offensive possessions and rebounds from Bittle on the next two defensive possessions. Bittle added his fourth block of the game in the final minute, as well.
"Colorado's really good at the rim, and Nate not only blocked four, he changed a lot more," Altman said. "There's no doubt without his performance tonight, we don't get it done."
Notable: Altman said Dante tweaked a knee in warmups but sounded hopeful the injury would be short-term. … Bittle's previous career highs of 11 points and six rebounds were set at California a week ago. … Richardson is up to 449 assists for his career, seventh in UO history just behind Johnathan Loyd (458, 2010-14). … Richardson played in his 136th career game with the Ducks on Thursday, tying for fourth in UO history with Garrett Sim (2008-12).
Quotable:
Junior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy on Oregon's struggles with the press
"Looking at that film, other teams are probably going to be salivating over that. We've got good, experienced guards. We've just got to get open and be strong with the ball, and we'll be all right."
Head coach Dana Altman, who has been encouraging Guerrier not to be too reliant on three-pointers
"It's good to see them play to their strengths a little bit. Quincy takes 11 shots, eight of them are inside the three. … He used his athleticism and got to the rim, shot a couple free throws. So I hope he sees that, he feels that — and we'll definitely show him the film tomorrow to show him what he did."
Up Next: The Ducks host Utah in Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Team Stats
CU
Oregon
FG%
.369
.491
3FG%
.381
.368
FT%
.929
.800
RB
34
38
TO
11
18
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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