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Home at Last; Ducks Open Home Slate with EWU

Dec 6, 2020

GAME NOTES: Game 3 Eastern Washington

THE STARTING 5
A pair of defending conference champions, No. 21 Oregon (Pac-12) and Eastern Washington (Big Sky) will play Monday at 4 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena (Pac-12 Network) in a game rescheduled from Nov. 25.
• 1 – Oregon's current 22-game home winning streak is the seventh-longest current streak in the country.
• 2 – The Ducks have won 22 straight home openers.
• 3 – Eugene Omoruyi had an historic debut for the Ducks Dec. 2 against Missouri. Not only was his 31 points the most ever by a player in his first game as a Duck, he joined Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2007-08) and North Carolina's Cole Anthony (2019-20) as the only major conference players in the last 25 years to have 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in their team debut.
• 4 – After adding 22 points in the win against Seton Hall,  Eugene Omoruyi's opening week numbers were impressive: 26.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, .556 FG Pct.
• 5 – The NCAA granted LJ Figueroa's transfer waiver on Dec. 3 and he made his first appearance as a Duck against Seton Hall with a team high nine rebounds and four steals. Figueroa led the Big East in steals last year at St. John's.
• BENCH – Prior to the season opener, assistant coach Tony Stubblefield was promoted to associate head coach.
• BENCH – Oregon was plus-16 on the boards Dec. 4 versus Seton Hall (38-22).
• BENCH – Dana Altman is one of five active head coaches in NCAA Division I who have posted a winning record for the last 23 consecutive seasons. The other four, Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Bill Self and Jim Boeheim, are in the Hall of Fame.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Ducks are 154-20 (.885) all-time at Matthew Knight Arena since the building opened in 2011.

NON-CONFERENCE RECORD AT MKA
The Ducks are 84-4 (.955) all-time in non-conference games at Matthew Knight Arena. The four non-conference teams to defeat Oregon at MKA are Virginia (67-54, Dec. 18, 2011), Mississippi (79-73, Dec. 7, 2014), Boise State (73-70, Dec. 1, 2017) and Texas Southern (89-84, Nov. 26, 2018). UO won 28 non-conference games in a row at MKA between the Virginia and Ole Miss losses.

HOME OPENERS
The Ducks have won 22 straight home openers. Oregon last dropped a home opener at the beginning of the 1997-98 season, 56-54 to Portland State.

DUCKS BRING 22-GAME HOME WINNING STREAK INTO 2020-21 OPENER
Coming into the Eastern Washington game, Oregon has won 22 straight at Matthew Knight Arena. That's the seventh-longest active streak in the nation, and the fourth-longest in program history. Three of Oregon's five longest home winning streaks have come under Dana Altman.

EUGENE'S BIG DEBUT
Senior transfer Eugene Omoruyi made an impression in his first game as a Duck. With a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds against Missouri, Omoruyi joined Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2007-08) and North Carolina's Cole Anthony (2019-20) as the only major conference players in the last 25 years to have 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in their team debut (@StatsBySTATS). His 31 points was the most ever by a player in his first game as a Duck. It was the eighth career double-double for the transfer from Rutgers. Omoruyi followed that with a team-high 22 points against Seton Hall.

FIGUEROA WAIVER GRANTED
The NCAA approved LJ Figueroa's transfer waiver on Dec. 3. The senior, who transferred to Oregon from St. John's, led Oregon with nine rebounds and four steals in his Duck debit against Seton Hall. As a junior in 2019-20, Figueroa led St. John's in scoring at 14.5 points per game. The Lawrence, Mass., native paced the Big East in steals at 1.9 per game last season.

DUARTE SHOWS MIDSEASON FORM IN OPENER
Chris Duarte was on an all-conference pace prior to a finger injury last season. He regained some of that midseason form with 22 points (4-of-7 three-pointers), four rebounds and two steals in the season-opener against Missouri. He added 14 points and six rebounds two nights later against Seton Hall. On Feb. 1, prior to the injury, the senior from the Dominican Republic was averaging 14.3 points and shooting 37.3 percent from three-point range. He finished the year averaging 12.9 points per game and hitting 33.6 percent from downtown. After playing though the injury for about a month, Duarte missed the final three games due surgery to repair the injured finger. Duarte had two 30-point games last year (31 points Dec. 29 against Alabama State, 30 points Jan. 23 versus USC) and was twice named Pac-12 Player of the Week. He set the Matthew Knight Arena record eight steals in the win against USC.

FIRST TIME DUCKS
In addition to Eugene Omoruyi, five other players made their Oregon debuts against Missouri - Eric Williams Jr. (13 pts, 9 reb), Amauri Hardy (5 asst), and freshmen Gabe Reichle, Jalen Terry and Lök Wur.

STUBBLEFIELD PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
Men's basketball assistant Tony Stubblefield was promoted to associate head coach prior to Wednesday's season opener against Missouri. "This is a well-earned promotion for all the outstanding work that Tony has done for our program," said coach Dana Altman. "His work ethic, knowledge of the game and loyalty to the University of Oregon and our team have really contributed to the successes we've been able to achieve over the last decade." Stubblefield, in his 11th season at Oregon, is an original member of Altman's coaching staff. During his tenure, Stubblefield helped Oregon assemble five recruiting classes that were ranked among the top 12 nationally (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021). Included in those classes were future NBA players Troy Brown Jr., Bol Bol and Louis King and 2020 NBA first round draft choice Payton Pritchard. Stubblefield also mentored 2015 Pac-12 player of the year Joe Young.