The Oregon basketball team looked like it took its full frustration from a humbling loss to UC Irvine last Friday and let it all out on Montana State on Tuesday night, rolling to a dominant 81-51 bounce-back win at Matthew Knight Arena.
Five-star 7-foot freshman Kel’el Ware had a breakout game with 16 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for his first double-digit scoring game.
“Probably his mom got after him a little bit. She liked the way he played tonight,” head coach Dana Altman joked.
Ware's moment of the game came late in the first half as he spun around a Bobcats defender and slammed it home while getting fouled. The 18-year-old missed the and-one but reached out for the offensive rebound and punched down an equally impressive dunk.
“It’s always fun being on the court especially when you [can get] the Oregon pit crew involved and the fans all around,” Ware said. “With them bringing that energy and us bringing energy on the court, we should be able to win every game.”
Winning this one and improving to 2-1 was a much-needed step in that direction after the 69-56 loss to UC Irvine here at home.
Oregon’s core this year so far has been centered around its bigs, who’ve scored over 50% of their total points, and Altman decided to start nearly 21 feet of big men with Quincy Guerrier, N’Faly Dante, and Nate Bittle (who got the first start of his career).
Montana State (1-2) hung around for most of the first half before a 9-1 run by the Ducks in the last 4:46 set up a 34-22 halftime lead.
The Bobcats’ most promising player, Jubrile Belo, was made ineffective by Oregon’s trees in the middle.
The reigning Big Sky Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year didn’t score a basket and got one rebound after being hounded by Ware and Dante throughout.
Belo was taken out in the middle of the second half after appearing bothered by an injury, and he also battled foul trouble with four personal fouls while playing only 12 minutes total.
Montana State guard RaeQuan Battle carried the vistors with a game-high 20 points, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with Oregon. The former Washington Husky has experience playing well against the Ducks as he scored 19 against Oregon in a losing effort back in 2020.
Meanwhile, there was a scary moment for Ducks fans in the second half when Dante clashed with a Bobcats defender and went down to the ground in noticeable pain.
“The hip has been bothering him and he hit it on that play. So I think he’ll be OK. Take a couple days off here,” Altman said. “I’d say by Friday he’ll be ready to go.”
The senior has dealt with injuries throughout his time as a Duck, but it was encouraging to see him return to the bench after a trip to the locker room. Dante did not go back in the game, finishing with 7 points, 6 boards and a block in 19 minutes.
Colorado transfer Keeshawn Barthelemy and fifth-year senior Will Richardson facilitated Altman’s gameplan extremely well offensively.
Oregon’s starting guards combined for 22 points and 10 assists on 9-18 shooting between them (12 points and 6 assists for Richardson and 10/4 for Barthelemy).
Guerrier added 11 points and 7 boards, and Bittle finished with 10 points and 6 boards.
The Ducks played their best game of the young season and had their most efficient one as well — shooting 53.3% from the field and connecting on 12 of 27 (44.4%) shots from behind the arc.
The Ducks return to the court Sunday against the No. 3-ranked Houston Cougars, who will be the highest ranked team to visit Eugene in quite some time and are coached by Kelvin Sampson, who led them to the final in 2021.
“They’re older, physical — we’re gonna have to foul our tails off to give ourselves an opportunity,” Altman said on the upcoming matchup.
