After a gritty performance at the Phil Knight Invitational tournament in Portland last week, where the Oregon Ducks were undermanned and often over-matched, they got back into a semblance of a rhythm to start Pac-12 play on Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
It resulted in a 74-60 win over the Washington State Cougars.
What was a back-and-forth game for the first 30 minutes of game-time quickly turned into a comfortable win for the Ducks. It was N’Faly Dante who led the way for Oregon, scoring a career-high 22 points while pulling down 7rebounds. Players like Will Richardson and Quincy Guerrier were also key offensive contributors, while Rivaldo Soares dominated on the glass, and JUCO transfer Brennan Rigsby made his Oregon debut with a much-needed burst of energy that seemed to like the Ducks.
While the start of the season has been a slog for Oregon, battling numerous injuries and struggling to find any sort of consistency on the court, it feels like Thursday night was a much-needed positive start to conference play.
Here are some of the biggest things you need to know about the game: