Oregon Basketball: Ducks Outlast Houston, Move to 5-0
Despite being outrebounded for the game, Oregon Basketball found ways to win the game over Houston 78-66 to get to 5-0 to start the season.
The matchup was between two teams that played in the Sweet 16 last year and the matchup lived up to the expectation in the first ten minutes. While both teams found scoring droughts, Oregon was led on the scoreboard by two players that have had consistency so far this season. Payton Pritchard and Anthony Mathis led the early scoring for Oregon as the game was tied at 13 with just over 8 minutes left in the first half.
Houston was outrebounding the Ducks early and had 15 to Oregon’s 6 in the opening 12 minutes of the game. The Cougars also had 6 offensive rebounds and 9 second-chance points. Out of a time out, Houston hit back to back shots to take a 6 point lead. The Ducks were not able to get it done on their end of the floor hitting cold streak landing 1 of their last 7 shots.
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Chris Duarte and Francis Okoro brought the Ducks back to within a point 22-21 forcing a Houston timeout with just under 4 minutes left in the first half. Oregon found a 15-2 run to take a 29-26 lead hitting 6 of 7 from the floor over a two-minute span.
With three seconds left Francis Okoro was fouled on a shot after bot being able to find a teammate. The ball went in and he was fouled. Oregon led at the break 32-27.
To open the second half, Oregon found another 6-0 run, this time in just 36 seconds ending in an Anthony Mathis three-pointer after a Mathis steal and a Houston turnover. The Ducks led by 10 with 15:45 left in the game and were starting to find their way with rebounds with Francis Okoro finding the right place on the floor to start the second half.
With just over 11 minutes left in the half, Anthony Mathis was fouled from outside the arc. He hit the shot and the one in one for the four-point play. On their next possession, Shakur Juiston hit a three-point shot and Francis Okoro hit a two and was fouled as the Ducks got hot again with a 10-0 run over a 1 minute and three-second span. The Ducks pushed their lead to 56-41 with ten minutes left in the game.
Houston made a run late to close the gap, but the Ducks won 78-66. Oregon held the Cougars to shooting 2 for 20 from three-point range. The Ducks finished shooting 54 percent with four players in double figures led by Anthony Mathis with 18 points.
Oregon now heads to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis. They will face Seton Hall to open the tournament on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.