Anthony Mathis Put on a Shooting Clinic in the Victory Against Boise State, 106-75

An up-and-down, fast-paced style of play was what lead to the Ducks getting the victory tonight. Oregon pushed the tempo and scored in a quick fashion. The man who took advantage of this was Anthony Mathis. He was sniping three-pointers left and right, finishing with a career high in both points (30) and three-pointers (9) on 11 attempts. Boise State didn’t seem to get the idea that Mathis has unlimited range. He reminds me a lot like Wesley Matthews, one of the top catch-and-shoot players in the NBA.

The Broncos had a quiet night from three-point territory as they finished 6-23 3PT, somewhere the Broncos were pretty successful last season when playing the Ducks. Derrick Alston kept the Broncos engaged late in the game and finished with 28 points. This is still a talented Boise State team that just didn’t bring much to the table tonight.

Dana Altman was forced to make an early change in the starting lineup, replacing Francis Okoro with CJ Walker. Okoro was struck by a car earlier this week and was taken to the hospital. He attended the game tonight but didn’t suit up. Let’s hope he has a speed recovery and will be ready to go for Tuesday.

• 15 of the NBA’s 30 teams sent scouts for Boise State vs Oregon.
• Olu Ashaolu, former power forward for the 2011-2012 Oregon team, was in attendance for tonight’s game.
• The first Oregon freshman to score a field goal this season is Addison Patterson (all freshman failed to score a single point vs Fresno State). He finished with 17 points on 7-7 shooting. As for the other freshmen, Lawson had 8 points to go along with 9 rebounds and Walker scored 2 points in his first career start.
• After he hit his fourth three-pointer of the first half, Mathis reached 1,000 career points. Mathis was 5-7 3PT after twenty minutes of play.

• Oregon played hard on the defensive end. It seemed like the Broncos weren’t getting any open looks as the Ducks were closing out on everything.
• Lawson is extremely long and plays the passing lane well.
• Payton Richard passed Luke Ridnour in the Oregon career assist list and is now third in school history with 501 assists. He finished with a solid stat line of 19 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. On this pace, Pritchard should be getting a triple-double sometime soon this season.
• Shakur Juiston had a quiet 16 points and 9 assists.
• Chris Duarte (7 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) is becoming a counterpart to the backcourt alongside Pritchard and Mathis. It seems as if Dana Altman’s move to play small and have more guards in the starting lineup has paid off so far.
• Ducks finished 70% from the field on 42 field goals made. They were also 13-19 from three-point land.
• Oregon has now won three straight against the Broncos.

Oregon is now 2-0 on the season. Next, the Ducks have to turn around and face an intimidating Memphis squad on Tuesday in Portland. The recent news of the projected #1 pick James Wiseman being ineligible was a shock across college basketball and it will be interesting to see how it plays out versus the Ducks. I have a gut feeling this game will be coming down to the final possession.

Next Game - #14 Memphis vs #15 Oregon (Portland, Ore.) 9:00 PM ET, ESPN on November 12

*Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area... Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho