Victor Bailey Jr., Payton Pritchard Power Oregon Ducks To NIT Win Over Rider
Oregon Ducks Victor Bailey and Payton Pritchard led the way for the Oregon Ducks in a 99-8 win over Rider in the National Invitation Tournament.
Oregon was looking to show they belonged in the Postseason after struggling in the first half of games in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks did not look better in the opening half. As a team, they shot 43 percent in the first two quarters.
Rider took it to the Ducks early shooting 54 percent from the floor. Victor Bailey Jr led Oregon in points in the first two quarters with 9. Paul White played better with 7 points but saw his third foul of the game just before halftime.
The Oregon Ducks gave up 28 points in the paint in the first half scoring just 14 with the extended three-point line. Despite the added distance, both teams shot 38 percent from beyond the arc in the first two quarters. Oregon was down 44-36 at the break.
"I was disappointed at halftime. Our energy level was just really bad – no communication defensively…(the second half) VJ really likes to play when the ball is going in. He did a really nice job with some energy there.Head Coach Dana Altman on the game vs Rider"
Oregon opened the second half and were a different team going on a 10-0 run with 5:58 left in the 3rd Quater. They hit 3 three-pointers in the span pulling to within a point 51-50. The rest of the quarter was a back and forth battle. Oregon was down 65-61 as the Fourth Quarter began.
The Ducks found a 7-0 run with just over 8 minutes left in the 4th Quarter. Payton Pritchard found his way to 20 points and four Oregon Ducks were in double figures. Elijah Brown forced a Rider Timeout with a three-pointer making it 77-72 Oregon.
Victor Bailey Jr was key down the stretch as Oregon held on to beat Rider and advance to the second round of the NIT. Kenny Wooten finished the game with an efficient 12 points off 6 for 8 shooting and a quiet double double pulling down 10 rebounds.
Next: Oregon Ducks Host Women's NCAA Tournament
Oregon(3) takes on the winner of Harvard(7) and Marquette(2) on Wednesday at 4pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.
Quotes obtained firsthand at Oregon Basketball Postgame