Game Notes: Ducks Host Eastern Washington

Friday, November 9

Eugene, OR

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

Eastern Washington (2K Empire Classic)

Tickets

The Oregon Ducks take on the Western Oregon Wolves at Mathew Knight Arena on November 1, 2018 (Eric Evans Photography)

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

11/07/18 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Eastern Washington

Oregon hosts Eastern Washington Friday night (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network) in the first of two Campus Round games in the 2K Empire Classic. The second is Nov. 20 against Green Bay.

THE STARTING FIVE
• 1 – With Oregon's next win, Dana Altman will tie Basketball Hall of Famer Howard Hobson for second on the UO career coaching wins list. Altman has 211 wins in nine seasons at Oregon. Hobson led the Ducks to 212 victories from 1935-47. Altman (2017) and Hobson (1939) are the only two men to lead Oregon to the Final Four.
• 2 – With three blocks in the season opener against Portland State, Kenny Wooten - in just his 37th career game - passed Bob Fife (93, 1989-93) for fourth on the UO career blocks list with 95.
• 3 – Payton Pritchard entered his junior year on pace to break Kenya Wilkins' UO career assists record of 614. Pritchard is currently tied with former NBA all-star Terrell Brandon (1989-91) for eighth with 315 career assists.
• 4 – Oregon's 2018 recruiting class was ranked third nationally, which is the highest in program history. The class includes five-star recruits Bol Bol and Louis King, and four-star signees Miles Norris, Francis Okoro and Will Richardson. In their first action for Oregon, Bo had a double-double (12 pts, 12 reb), Okoro had 10 pts and 6 reb. and Richardson scored 7 pts.
• 5 – Young Fresh Fellows. Of Oregon's 13-player roster, 77 percent (10) are either freshman or sophomores. The three outliers are junior Payton Pritchard, senior Paul White and senior grad transfer Ehab Amin.
• BENCH – Frontline. The average height of Oregon's post players is 6-10. That includes Bol Bol (7-2), Miles Norris (6-10), Luis King (6-9), Francis Okoro (6-9), Paul White (6-9) and Kenny Wooten (6-9).

PORTLAND STATE RECAP
Much of the pregame attention was focused on Oregon's highly-touted incoming class, but it was the return of Payton Pritchard and Paul White that led the Ducks to an 84-57 victory in the season opener against Portland State in front of 8,212 fans on Tuesday night in Matthew Knight Arena. White and Pritchard, who both missed the Ducks' exhibition game against Western Oregon, combined for 37 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Freshman Bol Bol recorded his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and rebounds each in his regular season debut. Pritchard finished with 22 points, 18 of which came in the first half, going 6-for-7 from the field and 9-for-9 at the line. White scored 11 of his 15 points before halftime and finished 5-for-8 on field goals and 2-for-3 from three-point range. Pritchard and White combined for 29 of Oregon's 45 first-half points, on a combined 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 9-of-9 at the line. Oregon won its 21st consecutive home opener, a streak that dates back to 1998. (Bol, Will Johnson, Francis Okoro and Will Richardson) played in their first collegiate game.

FRESHMEN DEBUTS
Bol Bol made a splash with a double-double (12-12) in his Oregon debut. Francis Okoro was efficient with 10 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes. Will Richardson also saw brief minutes and netted seven points in eight minutes.

VETERANS LEAD THE WAY
Oregon only has three upperclassmen on the roster, and all three started the season opener versus Portland State. Junior Payton Pritchard led the Ducks with 22 points, senior Paul White added 15 points and senior Ehab Amin had four points and six rebounds.

DUCK MEN AND WOMEN MAKE HISTORY AS TOP PAC-12 PRESEASON PICKS
The Oregon men's and women's basketball teams made history when both teams were predicted to win the conference in their respective preseason polls. It is the first time in conference history that the preseason selections to win the league in men's and women's basketball have come from the same school. The only other time the Duck men were picked first in the preseason poll was 2016-17. Oregon shared the league title with Arizona that year. The Ducks received 288 points and 16 first-place votes in a poll of media members. UCLA was second with 264 points (six first-place votes), followed by Washington (249), Arizona (205) and USC (203).

WOOTEN THROWS A BLOCK PARTY
With 95 career blocks, Kenny Wooten ranks fourth on the UO career chart. His 92 blocks as a freshman ranked third on the UO single-season list, and third on the Pac-12 freshman list.

ALTMAN CLOSING IN ON HALL OF FAMER HOBSON
Dana Altman needs 25 more wins to become the school's all-time winningest coach. Additionally, Altman needs just two victories to surpass Basketball Hall of Famer Howard Hobson for second in UO coaching victories. Altman has 211 career victories in nine seasons at Oregon. Hobson won 212 games as the head coach at Oregon for 11 years (1936-47), including the 1939 NCAA Championship. Ernie Kent won 235 games in 13 seasons (1998-2010).