Oregon Basketball: Payton Pritchard, Francis Okoro Lead Ducks To Win vs Fresno State
With a lot of new faces, Oregon Basketball looked to put things together vs Fresno State and found a way to a 71-57 win in their home opener.
Oregon Basketball hosted Fresno State in their season opener. The Ducks will be led by Payton Pritchard likely all season. He is their most experienced player and it showed starting Tuesday night vs the Bulldogs. He has 1000 career points to go with 400 rebounds and 400 assists, one of three Ducks to accomplish the feat in their respective careers.
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The Ducks started out with the first points of the game, but showed some early growing pains, more so than Fresno State. Oregon led 15-14 but fouled Williams outside the three-point line after committing four turnovers in a three-minute span. The Bulldogs took the lead as Williams hit two of three free throws with ten minutes left in the first half.
Fresno State went on a streak scoring four of their next five times down the floor and the Ducks ended an 0 for 8 drought with just over seven minutes left in the first half, Oregon was down one, 21-20. It was part of 7-0 run by Oregon forcing a Bulldogs timeout.
Oregon found another hot streak in the closing minutes of the first half pushing t lead to 38-27. Payton Pritchard led with 13 points for the Ducks at the break.
The Ducks would push their lead to 20 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Payton Pritchard continued to lead the way for Oregon. Fresno State would not go away pulling to within 11 with just under five minutes to go. Oregon was able to stay out of foul trouble for most of the game with just one player with three fouls to that point.
Oregon held Fresno State scoreless in the final four minutes of the game and came away with a win, 71-57. Payton Pritchard finished with 24. Chris Duarte had 16 points. Francis Okoro had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Oregon returns to the court on Saturday to face Boise State at Matthew Knight Arena. Tipoff is set for 8 pm Pacific Time.