Eugene, OR – The No. 14-ranked Oregon Ducks leaned on their defense to hold the visiting UT Arlington Mavericks to just 20 percent (6-of -30) shooting from beyond the arc in a 67-47 victory at Matt Knight Arena. Coming into the game the Mavericks averaged 35 3-point shots a game, making 12, though tonight was a different story. The Ducks improve to 4-0 on the season.
Oregon’s senior point guard Payton Pritchard took charge of the offense playing 31 minutes, scoring 24 points (10-16 FG) and adding eight rebounds and three assists. Pritchard attacked the hoop, scoring often with his incredible ball handling skills and savvy maneuvering around the basket. He even displayed his outside range by spotting up and hitting 2-of-6 from the 3-point line. He has a knack of knowing when the offense is sputtering and taking over to score in order to get his team out of brief slumps.
The remaining starters struggled to get going offensively tonight as they shot a combined 8-for- 27 from the field, just under 30 percent for the game. The bench was a bright spot with several key contributors on the night, starting with sophomore Will Richardson who scored nine points, including an impressive up and under lay-in, and added five rebounds. Freshman guard Addison Patterson scored nine points on 2- for-4 from the 3-point line and added three rebounds. Five star freshman CJ Walker from Samford, Florida didn’t fill up the stats on the offensive end, but contributed eight rebounds and was a key piece defensively, especially in the second half when the Mavericks had an almost eight minute field goal drought.
UT Arlington kept within reach for much of the game with help from sophomore guards David Azore (11 points) and Jordan Phillips (14 points). Both players shot well from the 3-point line going 2-for-3 and 3-for-5 respectively.. Early in the second half, Azore used his quickness with the dribble to penetrate past his defender into the paint getting the defense to collapse and dished out to Phillips who nailed the wide open 3-pointer. That cut the Oregon lead to 39-33 with 16:24 remaining. That would be the closest the Mavericks would get as the team couldn’t find any consistency in scoring. Senior, and leading scorer, Jabari Narcis from Trinidad and Tobago was held scoreless going 0-for-4 during the contest. The Mavericks opened the second half missing 16 of their first 17 shots and were 6-of-31 from the field in the half.
Next up for the Ducks is another home game against the Houston Cougars this Friday. The University of Texas Arlington will have another tough opponent on Tuesday as they travel to play the No. 8-rated Gonzaga Bulldogs.
This article was written by Chad Mart, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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