Oregon Opens Pac-12 Play in Boulder

Oregon opens Pac-12 play with a trip to Boulder to face Colorado Thursday at 6 p.m. PT (ESPN2).

THE STARTING FIVE
• 1 – Oregon is the only school in the country with its men's basketball, women's basketball and football teams all currently ranked in the Associated Press top seven. Women's basketball is No. 2, men's basketball is No. 4 and football is No. 7.
• 2 – Payton Pritchard is one of only two players nationally averaging at least 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He need just five more assists to pass UO Hall of Famer Ron Lee (572/1972-76) for second in UO career assists. Pritcahrd and Lee are the only players in program history with 1,500 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds
• 3 – Chris Duarte was named Pac-12 player of the week on Monday following his career-high 31-point performance Sunday against Alabama State. That was the fourth-best point total in the Pac-12 this season. Duarte was 12-of-15 from the field.
• 4 – Entering the weekend with 1,543 points, Payton Pritchard needs just four more points to pass fellow Oregonian E.J. Singler (1,546/2009-13) for 12th and 14 to pass Blair Rasmussen (1,554/1981-85) for 11th on the UO career scoring list.
• 5 – Oregon has shot 50 percent or better from the field in five consecutive games. On the season, the Ducks have shot 50 percent or better seven times, and are 11-0 when hitting at least 40 percent from the field.
• BENCH – Now the winningest coach in Oregon history, Dana Altman is one of six active head coaches in NCAA Division I who have posted a winning record for the last 22 consecutive seasons. The other five - Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Bill Self and Jim Boeheim - are all in the Hall of Fame.
• BENCH – Oregon's No. 4 ranking matches the highest in program history. The Ducks also reached No. 4 in the Nov. 16, 2016, poll.

DUCKS REACH RANKING RECORD
Oregon is No. 4 in this week's Associated Press poll, which matches Ducks' all-time highest ranking by the A.P. The Ducks were also No. 4 in the Nov. 14, 2016, poll. That Oregon team would eventually reach the 2017 Final Four and send four players – Jordan Bell, Dillon Brooks, Chris Boucher and Tyler Dorsey – on to the NBA. Payton Pritchard started at point guard as a freshman for that squad.

PRITCHARD PRODUCING AT PROLIFIC LEVELS
After scoring a career-high tying 29 points with six assists and five rebounds Dec. 21 against Texas Southern, Payton Pritchard is one of only two Division I players nationally averaging at least 18.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. The other is Mason Faulkner of Western Carolina. Pritchard is also averaging 1.8 steals a game.

PRITCHARD AND RON LEE IN CLUB OF TWO
Payton Pritchard is now one of just two players in program history with 1,500 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds, joining UO Hall of Famer Ron Lee.

PRITCHARD REACHES 1,500 POINTS
Payton Pritchard became the 14th 1,500-point scorer in program history Dec. 18 against Montana. Dec. 21 against Texas Southern, he passed Aaron Brooks (1,511/2003-07) for 13th in UO history and now shows 1,543 career points. E.J. Singler (1,546/2009-13) is 12th and Blair Rasmussen (1,554/1981-85) is 11th.

DUARTE NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Oregon guard Chris Duarte was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 30 after scoring a career-high 31 points in the Dec. 29 98-59 win against Alabama State. The junior from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, made 12-of-15 field goal attempts, including 6-of-9 three-pointers. He also had six assists and five rebounds. The 31 points was the most by a Duck since Bol Bol scored 32 last December against Texas Southern and is the fourth-best scoring performance in the Pac-12 this season. After reaching double figures just once in his first five games, Duarte has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight contests. That string of games began at the Battle 4 Atlantis where the he enjoyed his return to the Caribbean by averaging 14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during the three-game tournament.

SIXTH MAN
Sophomore Will Richardson scored a season-high 18 points Dec. 21 against Texas Southern. He has come off the bench to score in double figures in five of the last six games. Richardson leads the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage (.586). He tied the Matthew Knight Arena record with six steals Dec. 29 against Alabama State.

DANTE DEBUTS, OKORO SOARS
N'Faly Dante made his much anticipated Oregon Dec. 18 against Montana. The freshman from Bamako, Mali, scored 11 points in 14 minutes. Not to be outdone, Francis Okoro scored 12 points with a career-high 17 rebounds. It was the most rebounds by a Duck since Chris Boucher hauled in 19 boards against Montana on Dec. 13, 2016. It was Okoro's second double-double of the season and his career.

HISTORIC WIN AGAINST MICHIGAN
The Ducks' 71-70 win over No. 5 Michigan on Dec. 14 was the program's first regular season non-conference win over a top-five opponent in school history. The Ducks' previous best was an 86-73 win against No. 10 Providence on Jan. 4, 1975, in Eugene. It was also the program's first road win over a top 5 team since Oregon defeated No. 5 UCLA 65-45 on Feb. 21, 1976, in Pauley Pavilion. That win by the Ducks snapped UCLA's 98-game home winning streak, the third-longest home winning streak in NCAA history.

DUCKS NOTCH THREE TOP-13 WINS
The Ducks have wins over three top-13 teams so far in 2019-20. Oregon topped No. 13 Memphis, 82-74, on Nov. 12. Oregon then repeated that feat with a 71-69 win against No. 13 Seton Hall at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Ducks capped that stretch with a 71-70 overtime win at No. 5 Michigan on Dec. 14. All three top-15 wins came away from home - a resume point that only Oregon can claim.

THAT 70's SHOW
Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 170-20 when holding opponents under 70 points, including a 135-12 mark the last six seasons. Hello, Wisconsin!