EUGENE, Ore. β Up double digits with less than three minutes to play Wednesday, the Oregon men’s basketball team had to fend off a furious comeback bid by UC Riverside before hanging on to win, 71-65, before 4,738 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
Neither team led by more than five in the first half, but the Ducks locked down defensively to open the second half and led by as much as 17. Oregon was up 68-56 with 2:29 left before the Highlanders scored nine straight to make it a one-possession game in the final 30 seconds.
“We were guarding, taking away easy baskets β and then we just let them go on a run,” UO coach Dana Altman said. “β¦Y eah, it definitely puts a damper on it.”
Brennan Rigsby had 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting to lead the UO men, and N’Faly Dante added 14 points with five rebounds and four assists. Will Richardson followed up his triple-double on Saturday with 13 points and five assists, and Rivaldo Soares added 12 points with six rebounds.
How It Happened: Rigsby scored Oregon’s opening bucket, and Dante provided five points over the next two possessions for an early 7-2 lead, the Ducks’ biggest of the first half. UC Riverside put together a 9-2 run to build its own five-point lead at 15-10, and the teams went back and forth the rest of the first half.
Richardson hit a three for a 26-23 UO lead, and after the Highlanders rallied back in front, Soares scored on consecutive possessions for a 31-28 lead. A dunk to…
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