Game Notes: Ducks Visit Sun Devils
Oregon will play its first road game in more than a month when the Ducks visit Arizona State Thursday at 6 p.m. (ESPN).
THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon leads the Pac-12 in steals (7.9 per game) and three-point field goals (8.0 per game).
• 2 – Eugene Omoruyi has scored in double figures in 13-of-14 games this season. He is fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.6 points per game.
• 3 –Will Richardson saw his first action of the season last weekend. The preseason all-Pac-12 first team selection averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in the Ducks' split with the Washington schools. Richardson missed the first 12 games of the year after injuring his thumb just prior to Oregon's season opener on Dec. 2.
• 4 – Two Oregon freshmen played big roles in the Ducks' 86-74 win against Washington on Saturday. Franck Kepnang had eight points and two blocks, all in the first half. Jalen Terry hit four three-pointers in the second half and finished the game with 15 points.
• 5 – LJ Figueroa had his second double-double in four games Feb. 4 versus Washington State (12 points, 11 rebounds). He leads the Ducks with three double-doubles this season.
• BENCH – Under Dana Altman, Oregon has won nearly 90 percent of its games (183-21) when holding opponents below 70 points.
• 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).
RICHARDSON RETURNS
Preseason all-Pac-12 first team selection Will Richardson saw his first action of the season Feb. 4 against Washington State. He scored 10 points with six assists and five rebounds. Richardson followed that with 19 points and five rebounds Feb. 6 against Washington. Richardson missed the first 12 games of the year after suffering a thumb injury just prior to Oregon's season opener on Dec. 2. He led the Pac-12 in three-point field goal shooting last season at 46.9 percent (38-of-81). The junior from Hinesville, Ga., was at his best late in the season when he scored in double figures in nine of the last 11 games of 2019-20. He averaged 14.2 points per game in that span and hit 54.5 percent from three-point range (18-of-33).
OMORUYI DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING
Senior forward Eugene Omoruyi is the only Duck to start all 14 games this season and has scored in double figures in 13 of those 14 contests. He's coming off an impressive weekend: 21 points and seven rebounds Feb. 4 against Washington State and 25 points and three steals Feb. 6 versus Washington. 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 been Oregon's leading scorer nine times.
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 964 points coming into Thursday's game, Eugene Omoruyi is also on pace to join that club this season. When Omoruyi hits that plateau, Oregon will join Ole Miss as the only two programs in the country with four active 1,000-point scorers.
STAT FILLER FIGUEROA
Senior transfer LJ Figueroa had his team-leading third double-double of the season Feb. 4 against Washington State (12 points, 11 rebounds). It was the last of six straight games scoring in double figures. That streak that dated back to Dec. 19 against Portland (15) and included California (11), Stanford (13), Colorado (10), Utah (15) and WSU. Jan. 2 against Stanford, 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 sixth in the Pac-12 in rebounds (7.1 per game), Figueroa has led Oregon in rebounding seven 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. 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 HEATING UP
Freshman Jalen Terry made his first start Jan. 23 against Oregon State and scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range). Two games later, he had 15 points on 5-of-7 shoooting fro deep Feb. 6 against Washington.
KEPNANG ROLE GROWS
Franck Kepnang, the 6-11 freshman who reclassified from the 2021 class and joined the team at the quarter break, made his Oregon debut Jan. 9 at Utah. He had one block in three minutes. He then scored five points in six minutes Jan. 23 against Oregon State. He best effort to date came Feb. 6 against Washington when he had eight points and two blocks.