Eugene, OR – After a hard fought Thanksgiving weekend in the Bahamas, going 1-2 against three top fifteen foes, the No. 13 Oregon Ducks came out looking sluggish, but nonetheless got the job done against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The Ducks stepped up their game with a dominant second half performance winning handily 89-64 on their home floor Saturday evening.
Hawaii came out hot, making their first 7-of-11 three pointers. Senior shooting guard and leading scorer Eddie Stansberry paced the way by scoring 14 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting behind the arc. He finished with a game high 24 points (7-of-14 3PT). Stansberry’s ability to quickly catch and shoot made it difficult for the Ducks to stop his array of shooting from the 3 point line. He even made an amazing fade away shot from the corner in the first half and added a 4-point play in the second half. The Rainbow Warriors kept pace with the Ducks in the first half as they went into the locker tied at 34.
The second half was a different story as the Ducks came out on a furious 20-1 run to start the half. Payton Pritchard was the catalyst in the run by jab stepping the defender and hitting two three pointers in back to back possessions. Then, Pritchard followed it up by pushing the ball on the fast break and dishing to the athletic C.J. Walker who stepped around the defender for the lay-in. Pritchard finished the game with a double-double, scoring 20 points (8-for-11) and adding a season-high 11 assists.
Walker made his first start as a true freshman for displaying a compilation of offensive talent and showed why the 5-Star recruit was so highly touted. The 6’8” freshman scored a season high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting. He also displayed his high flying vertical leap by making several acrobatic lay-ins including a thunderous ally-oop dunk. In addition, he stepped outside showing his range going 2-for-3 from the 3-point line.
The Ducks as a team shot an excellent 63 percent from the field, partly due to their bench contributions from sophomore Will Richardson. Richardson followed up his 17-point performance against the Tar Heels last week in the Bahamas by scoring 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting. He went perfect from the 3-point line going 2-for-2. He is now shooting 63 percent on 3-pointers on the season. Another true freshman, Addison Patterson added 10 points for the Ducks.
Hawaii’s Drew Buggs, the 3-year starting point guard was shut down and pressured all night by the Ducks mix of defenses. He was held scoreless from the field going 0-of-8, but assisted on eight field goals. 7-foot sophomore, Dawson Carper used his size in the paint to finish with 11 points and five rebounds.
Oregon (7-2) will face another Top-10 program, when they go to Ann Arbor to face the No. 4 ranked Michigan Wolverines (8-1) on Saturday December 14th. Hawaii (6-3) will fly back home to face Samford (6-5) on the 15th of December.
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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