Coming into tonight’s game with the Portland Pilots, Oregon was shooting barely 30 percent from beyond the three-point line. Portland wanted to force the Ducks to shoot from long range.
And they did.
But the only problem for the Pilots was that Oregon was knocking down those threes time and time again. The Ducks were 12-of-22 on threes and that was more than enough to defeat Portland 78-56.
On the other side, the Pilots were not hitting their outside shots. Portland was making nearly 40 percent of their threes, but inside Matthew Knight Arena, the visitors from the WCC couldn’t find the mark going just 5-of-23 on three-pointers.
With the win, the Ducks move to 7-5 for the season with just one non-conference game remaining before the Pac-12 ramps up.
Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
- Oregon hit its first three of the game and that was a sign of things to come. In the first half alone, the Ducks were 9-of-16 from three-point range, which helped give Oregon a 37-25 lead.
- The Ducks were able to extend their defense a bit in order to cover the Pilots’ shooters. Oregon’s overall length and aggressiveness really bothered the Portland shooters.
- Both teams were in serious foul trouble, but Kristian Sjolund fouled out with nearly 12 minutes left to play. He was Portland’s only real inside threat and once he fouled out, the Duck defense was in every shooters’ face.
- Will Richardson was slow in getting his shot going, but as he was figuring it out, he still could dish it out. He wound up with a career-high 12 assists. Richardson also scored 12 points for the double-double, but many of those points came late.
- With all the missed shots, Oregon didn’t allow many second-chance points. Rebounding was a team effort with no Duck grabbing more than six and seven different Oregon players bringing down at least three boards..
- Rivaldo Soares: 16 points, 4-5 3-pt FG
- Will Richardson: 12 points, 12 assists
- Brennen Rigsby: 14 points, 4-6 3-pt FG
- Oregon: 12-22 3-pt FG, 26-49 FG (53 percent)
- Ducks had 18 turnovers. Portland accounted for 16 miscues
- Portland: 5-21 3-pt FG
Oregon plays its last non-conference game of the season on Saturday, Dec. 20 when the Ducks host Utah Valley of the WAC. The Wolverines are 8-4 on the season.
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