Eugene, OR – In a contest that was fast-paced throughout, the Oregon Ducks outlasted the Portland State Vikings 96-84 in front of an anxious crowd of 6,905 in Eugene. Oregon only led by two points with 6:37 left in the game before they started to pull away. Elijah Brown scored a season-high 22 points to lead five Ducks in double-figures. 6-8 freshman Kenny Wooten came off the bench to score 18 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field that included five dunks. Wooten added six blocked shots and five rebounds. Oregon prevailed despite allowing a 26-point second half by 6-4 senior Bryce Canda. Canda, who scored a game-high 31 points, made 9-of-15 second half shots including 5-of 7 from deep.
This Oregon (8-3) team seems to play better at a fast pace. They connected on 50 percent of their field goals and assisted on 27 of their 32 made shots. In the post-game conference coach Dana Altman indicated that he thought the Ducks’ ball movement was good and that they didn’t take many bad shots.
Portland State (8-3) impressed us at the PK80 tournament in Portland where they led Duke at halftime before losing, took a good Butler team to overtime before losing by two points after missing a three-pointer at the buzzer and easily defeated Stanford. The Vikings play without much size but are pesky, very active on defense, push the ball on offense and have a host of good shooters. Besides Canda, 6-4 Deontae North scored 24 points after putting up 18 in the first half. North connected on 5-of-13 three-pointers and the team was 13-of-34 from deep. Portland State should contend for the Big Sky Conference title.
6-7 freshman Troy Brown Jr. narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with ten points, ten rebounds and nine assists. He would have had a tenth assist but Elijah Brown missed an uncontested layup. Point guard Payton Pritchard was solid, playing a game-high 38 minutes in which he scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Pritchard made 4-of-7 3s including three in a row in the beginning of the game. 6-9 Paul White was the other Duck in double-figures with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Oregon shot a respectable 40.7 percent from deep (11-of-27). Oregon out-rebounded Portland State by eight but that was primarily due to the Vikings missing 12 more shots than Oregon. Portland State was active on the boards and had a +3 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Oregon will get a good test in their next game as they travel to face Fresno State (9-2) on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs play more of a half-court game on offense which might be more challenging for the Ducks. Oregon’s last loss came at home to another member of the Mountain West conference, Boise State.
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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