Game Notes: Stretch Run Begins with Colorado
Oregon opens the stretch run of the regular season by hosting Colorado Thursday at 8 p.m. (ESPN2).
THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Last Thursday's game at Arizona State was the only time this season that Oregon's top five scorers – Chris Duarte, Eugene Omoruyi, Will Richardson, LJ Figueroa and Eric Williams Jr. – have all played in the same game.
• 2 – With Eugene Omoruyi scoring his 1,000th point as a collegian Saturday at Arizona, Oregon is now just one of two schools nationally with four 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Ole Miss is the other. Amauri Hardy, LJ Figureoa and Eric Williams Jr. are the other three 1,000-point scorers on the Ducks' roster.
• 3 – Chris Duarte is one of just three players in the nation averaging at least 17.0 points and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, and is the only major conference player putting up those numbers.
• 4 – Eugene Omoruyi has scored in double figures in 15-of-16 games this season. He is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.8 points per game. He had his second double-double of the season Feb. 11 at Arizona State (18 points, 10 rebounds).
• 5 – Oregon leads the Pac-12 in steals (7.6 per game) and three-point field goals (8.2 per game).
• BENCH – Under Dana Altman, Oregon has won nearly 90 percent of its games (185-21) 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).
FOUR 1,000 POINT SCORERS ON THE ROSTER
Saturday at Arizona, Eugene Omoruyi became the fourth current Duck to have scored 1,000 points in college. Two other teammates reached that milestone this year - Eric Williams Jr. Dec. 31 against California and LJ Figueroa Dec. 19 versus Portland. Amauri Hardy came into the year with 1,000 points scored while playing for UNLV. Oregon and Ole Miss are the only two programs in the country with four active 1,000-point scorers.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Ducks are 161-22 (.880) all-time at Matthew Knight Arena since the building opened in 2011.
PAC-12 AT MKA
The Ducks are 75-18 (.806) in Pac-12 games at Matthew Knight Arena. Arizona State is 0-7, USC Washington and Washington State are 1-8, 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.
REPUBLIC OF DUARTE
Chris Duarte had his highlight moment last Saturday at Arizona, hitting the game-winning three-pointer with :17 remaining. Duarte is three Division I players nationally averaging at least 17.0 points and 2.0 steals per game while shooting at least 50 percent from the field. The other two are DeVante Jones of Coastal Carolina and Peter Kiss of Bryant. Between Dec. 19 and Jan. 9, the Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate had a five-game stretch where 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). He has scored in double figures in 11 straight games, including last week at Arizona State (18 points) and Arizona (10 points).
RICHARDSON RETURNS
Preseason all-Pac-12 first team selection Will Richardson saw his first action of the season Feb. 4 against Washington State and scored in double figures the first three games of his return. He had 10 points against the Cougars, 19 points against Washington (Feb. 6) and 15 Feb. 11 at Arizona State. He's also averaging more than four assists per game since his return. For the second-straight year, he made the game-winning assist at Arizona. Last year he drove and drew the defense and found Shakur Juiston for a wide-open layin. This year, he once again drove and drew the defense and kicked the ball to an open Chris Duarte for the game-winning three-pointer. 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 15 games this season and has scored in double figures in 15 of those 16 contests. His last four games have been exceptionally good: 21 points with seven rebounds Feb. 4 against Washington State; 25 points and three steals Feb. 6 versus Washington; his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds Feb. 11 at Arizona State; 18 points Feb. 13 at Arizona. 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 10 times.