The Oregon Ducks (9-4, 4-3) fell to the Washington State Cougars (11-7, 4-7) 71 to 74 in a bizarre, ref-fueled game at Matt Knight Arena.

EUGENE, OREGON - The Ducks trailed for nearly the entirety of the game, and at one point trailed the Cougars by as much as 11 points, but Altman’s squad did an admirable job rallying back despite an injury to star player Chris Duarte.

The Oregon Men’s Basketball team played their first game since Jan 23. and only their second game since Jan. 9 due to two separate COVID-19 related pauses. So, needless to say, they looked rusty. However, the Ducks held the lead for a total of 31 seconds. Eugene Omoruyi hit a pair of free throws that put Oregon up 38-36. Unfortunately, Duarte was injured moments later.

Early in the second half, Duarte severely rolled his right ankle and needed to be carried off the court to the locker room. The senior—who is currently Oregon’s leading scorer with 18.4 points per game—did not return to the court or bench. He finished with 11 points in 20 minutes of play.

The evening started off on a positive note with the season debut of Will Richardson after a thumb surgery sidelined him for the first half of the season. The junior guard tallied 10 points, six rebound and five assists in his first taste of action in the 2020-21 season.

Omoruyi led the Ducks with 21 points. LJ Figueroa recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and also took what should have been a hard foul but the refs deemed it a clean hit after further review. Amauri Hardy contributed 11 points from the bench.

The pace of play was greatly affected by the 52 fouls called by the refs. The Ducks averaged 43.6 percent from the floor and hit 5-of-17 three-pointers. Isaac Bonton had a big day for the Cougars, finishing with 23 points and nearly playing every minute of the contest.

BOX SCORE

GO DUCKS!

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