EUGENE, Ore. — Less than 48 hours after a lifeless loss at home to Arizona State, the Oregon men’s basketball team bounced back in emphatic fashion Saturday, an 87-68 win over No. 9 Arizona before 7,970 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
Jermaine Couisnard scored 27 points in his first start of the season for the Ducks (10-8, 4-3 Pac-12), making 6-of-9 three-pointers on the day. N’Daly Dante added 22 points and 10 rebounds, Will Richardson had 14 points with five assists and four steals, and Keeshawn Barthelemy contributed five points, six rebounds and five assists.
Dante got the party started in Matthew Knight Arena with a steal and highlight-reel dunk over Arizona’s Kerr Kriisa one minute into the game. A couple of hours later the party ended with members of the Oregon Pit Crew dancing at center court in celebration of the blowout.
“It was kind of personal today — their big guy (Oumar Ballo) is from Mali and I’m from Mali,” said Dante, who also had three steals and two blocks. “I just wanted to get a ‘dub’. I had a mindset before they game, we played them last year and they beat us by three; that’s not happening again. … The last game, I was just worried about fouling. This one I was like, you know what, I’m going to do whatever my teams needs.”
Saturday’s performance was personal for UO coach Dana Altman, too, after Oregon’s deflating loss to ASU two days earlier. Altman said he had a sleepless night Thursday, then…
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