Game Notes: Ducks Host Cougars
Oregon returns to the court Thursday against Washington State at Matthew Knight Arena (8 p.m., FS1).
THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon leads the Pac-12 in steals at 8.1 per game and in three-point field goal percentage defense (.294).
• 2 – Chris Duarte was recently named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 10 list. He is the only Pac-12 player among the 10 finalists. Duarte leads the Pac-12 in both steals (2.5 per game) and three-pointers made (2.8 per game) and ranks 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.456) and 14th nationally in steals.
• 3 – Eugene Omoruyi has scored in double figures in 11-of-12 games this season. He is sixth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 16.8 points per game.
• 4 –Chris Duarte has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games. During that span, he averaged 23.0 points 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game and hit 57.7 percent from the field (50 percent from three-point range).
• 5 – Dana Altman hit a couple of coaching milestones recently. With the Ducks' last three wins, Altman passed both Denny Crum of Louisville (675 wins) and former Stanford and California coach Mike Montgomery (677 wins) to move into 23rd on the NCAA Division I career coaching wins list. Not only was the game against Utah Altman's 678th career Division I win, it was also the University's 1,700th win all time.
• BENCH – Dana Altman has been named the coach of the year of four different Division I conferences: Southern Conference (1990, Marshall), Big Eight (1993, Kansas State), Missouri Valley (twice, Creighton) and the Pac-12 (three times, Oregon).
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Ducks are 160-21 (.884) all-time at Matthew Knight Arena since the building opened in 2011.
PAC-12 AT MKA
The Ducks are 74-17 (.813) in Pac-12 games at Matthew Knight Arena. Two teams have yet to register a win at the 10 year-old arena: Washington State (0-8) and Arizona State (0-7). USC is 1-8, Washington is 1-7, Arizona, Utah and Colorado are all 1-6, Stanford is 2-7, Oregon State is 3-8, UCLA is 3-6 and California is 4-5.
DUARTE NAMED TO JERRY WEST SHOOTING GUARD OF THE YEAR TOP 10 LIST
Senior guard Chris Duarte was named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Top 10 list by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the only Pac-12 player among the Jerry West Award final 10. Duarte is third in the Pac-12 in scoring at 18.4 points per game and leads the league in both steals at 2.5 per game (14th nationally) and three-pointers made at 2.8 per game. He is ranked among the Pac-12's top 10 in eight different statistical categories. Duarte is also 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.456).
CHRIS DUARTE: DARE WE SAY "EN FUEGO"
The last five games for Pac-12 player of the year candidate Chris Duarte have been sublime. The Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, native scored at least 20 points in four of those five games. During that span, he averaged 23.0 points 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while hitting 57.7 percent from the field (41-of-71) and 50 percent from three-point range (19-of-38). For good measure, he was also 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) at the free throw line.
STAT FILLER FIGUEROA
Senior transfer LJ Figueroa, who scored 15 points Jan. 9 at Utah, continues to stuff the stat sheet. After scoring 13 points with a season-high 12 rebounds Jan. 2 against Stanford, he's the only Duck with two double-doubles this season. It was his rebound dunk to tie the game at 41-41 with 12:43 to go that seemed to spark the Ducks; Oregon outscored Stanford 32-15 the rest of the way. Ranking seventh in the Pac-12 in rebounds (6.5 per game), Figueroa has led Oregon in rebounding five times this season, steals twice and blocks once. Figueroa missed Oregon's season-opening Dec. 2 loss to Missouri before the NCAA approved his transfer waiver on Dec. 3. The St. John's transfer led Oregon with nine rebounds and four steals in his Duck debut Dec. 4 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.
TERRY SHINES IN FIRST START FOR SHORTHANDED DUCKS
With starters Chris Duarte and LJ Figueroa out due to COVID-19 protocols, freshman Jalen Terry made his first start Jan. 23 against Oregon State and scored a season-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range).
UNSTOPPABLE OMORUYI
Senior forward Eugene Omoruyi was nearly unstoppable in the paint Dec. 31 versus California, making nine-of-10 field goal attempts in the lane, finishing with 26 points and a career-high five steals. He had 15 points and a season-high five assists Jan. 2 against Stanford and 18 points Jan. 7 at Colorado. He has scored in double figures 11 times in 12 games and has been Oregon's leading scorer seven times.
ALTMAN PASSES MONTGOMERY, NETS 800TH WIN
With Oregon's win against Utah on Jan. 9, Dana Altman passed former Stanford and California coach Mike Montgomery (677 wins) for 23rd on the NCAA Division I career coaching wins list with 678. Altman also recently reached 800 wins all-time as a head coach at all levels, including 123 junior college wins.
1,000 POINT SCORERS
Dec. 31 against California, Eric Williams Jr. became the third active Duck to reach 1,000 points as a collegian. He joined Amauri Hardy and LJ Figueroa, who himself reached 1,000 career points Dec. 19 versus Portland. With 918 points coming into Thursday's game, Eugene Omoruyi is also on pace to join that club this season.
OH CANADA
Eugene Omoruyi is the 11th Canadian to play for the Ducks during the Dana Altman era. Some of the more notable Canadian Ducks are Dillon Brooks (Memphis Grizzlies), Chris Boucher (Toronto Raptors) and Dylan Ennis, who is playing overseas and led the 2017 Final Four team in minutes played.