Kwame Evans Jr. scored a career-high 23 points in 20 minutes as Oregon opened the season with a 91-76 victory over UC Riverside on Monday in Eugene, Ore.
Ducks center Nate Bittle added 16 points with a team-high 11 rebounds. A pair of Oregon newcomers also made key contributions, as Brandon Angel (formerly of Stanford) scored 17 points and TJ Bamba (formerly of Villanova) added 12 points.
Barrington Hargress, the Big West Freshman of the Year last season, led the Highlanders with 20 points before he fouled out. Kaleb Smith added 14, Isaiah Moses had 13 and Nate Pickens put up 11.
The Ducks, coming off a Pac-12 tournament championship and a second-round NCAA Tournament defeat, used a 10-0 run in the first half to take the lead for good.
UC Riverside started quickly on offense and was up 28-26 before Oregon’s surge.
Soon after, the Ducks’ Jadrian Tracey stole a pass and dunked at the other end for a 38-29 lead with 4:38 to go. Tracey is among the top returnees for a team that lost top performers N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard from the group that won the final Pac-12 title before moving into the Big Ten.
Evans made four free throws as part of a 9-0 run that helped the Ducks take a 51-36 lead into halftime.
Still, the Highlanders hung around for some time in the second half. Three times they trimmed Oregon’s lead to seven, the second time at 69-62 after a layup from Niyi Olabode with 11:18 to play and the final time on Moses’ jumper with 6:14 to go.
Angel responded with four straight made free throws.
Oregon finished the game shooting 50 percent (33-of-66) and outrebounded the Highlanders 45-29. The Ducks also had a 26-point advantage in points in the paint.
–Field Level Media
