Tag: N’Faly Dante

How it happened: Oregon Ducks pick up thrilling 84-81 OT win over No. 3 UCLA

What a way to grab win No. 700 for Dana Altman. The Ducks get their biggest win of the season, 84-81 in OT over No. 3 UCLA.

What a way for Dana Altman to get his 700th career victory, huh?

After a tough first half where it looked like the Oregon Ducks were going to try and find a way to lose this game, they utilized a strong start to the second half and built a small lead over the No. 3 UCLA Bruins, eventually upsetting their Pac-12 foe in overtime, 84-81.

The Ducks had a good chance to win this game in regulation, up 6 points with less than a minute to go. However, a pair of turnovers in the final 30 seconds allowed UCLA to tie the game and for overtime.

Luckily for Oregon, some stellar guard play from Jacob Young and Will Richardson sealed the deal in overtime, and they got the monumental victory for the season.

Here is how things went down:

How it happened: Eric Williams’ three-pointer downs the Beavers late

Eric Williams scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Ducks get out of Corvallis with a 78-76 win.

The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team hasn’t seen a lot of action, but Eric Williams, Jr. has seen even less.

Williams hadn’t scored in the last three games, but he came up huge in Corvallis as his three-pointer with 12 seconds left broke a 74-74 tie and the Ducks held on 78-76.

Oregon State’s Warith Alatishe had a point-blank attempt at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, but his shot rattled off the rim to send the Ducks back to Eugene as happy campers.

The win over the Beavers was an important one considering the Ducks’ upcoming road trip to No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 USC this coming weekend.

Now Oregon is 9-6 overall and 2-2 in conference action and it has some momentum on its side as the team is finally beginning to gel.

Quick Hits: Oregon Ducks finish non-conference schedule with 68-59 win over Pepperdine

The Ducks enter the holiday break on a semi-high note with a 68-59 win over Pepperdine, though the victory wasn’t very pretty.

The Oregon Ducks finished their non-conference schedule with a 68-59 win over Pepperdine and will now enter a short holiday break on a semi-high note following the victory.

Of course, it could have been a lot prettier, and head coach Dana Altman will certainly have a lot to say about the performance. The Ducks were lackadaisical early on, and struggle to put away a team that many would consider beneath them when it comes to talent on the floor.

Nonetheless, a win is a win, and those have been hard to come by for the Ducks so far this year. Here are a few quick notes from the victory on Tuesday:

Aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith battle for No. 1

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Basketball News and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our last update, the players who have improved the most spots are Ismael Kamagate (Paris), Moussa Diabate (Michigan), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Hugo Besson (New Zealand), Efe Abogidi (Washington State),  Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Max Christie (Michigan State), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas).

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Christian Koloko (Arizona), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame),  Josh Minott (Memphis), Zach Edey (Purdue), and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).

Some of the top prospects who did not make the cut this time included Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Tennesse), Kobe Bufkin (Michigan), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jahvon Quinerly (Albama), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Matthieu Gauzin (Le Mans), Isaiah Wong (Miami), Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Everything we know following No. 13 Oregon’s 83-66 season-opening win over Texas Southern

The Ducks looked solid in their first game of the season, beating Texas Southern 83-66. Here’s an instant reaction from the game.

At long last, the Oregon Ducks’ men’s basketball team kicked off its 2021 season at Matthew Knight Arena, picking up a 83-66 season-opening win over Texas Southern.

This was our first opportunity to see a whole host of new players on the roster, several of whom came to Eugene via the transfer portal this offseason.

In a surprise to many, the Ducks started out the game with a small-ball lineup, utilizing three guards and two forwards. They then went on to shoot 19 three-pointers in the first half. That trend continued in the second half, with Oregon attempting 36 for the entire game.

N’Faly Dante about a month or so away from returning from knee injury

Oregon’s dominant big man N’Faly Dante is still recovering from a knee injury, and is about a month to six weeks away from returning.

The Oregon basketball season is getting near, and for the first time this season, we got a chance to speak to head coach Dana Altman and preview his squad.

While a lot of the talk centered around veteran point guard Will Richardson and the influx of talent that has been added via the transfer portal, there was one thing of note when it comes to the injury front. That has to do with former 5-star big-man N’Faly Dante, who missed much of last season with a knee injury.

According to Altman, Dante won’t quite be ready to play when the season tips off, but his return is expected before the end of the year.

“He’s working really hard,” Altman said on Thursday. “I love the effort that he’s putting in with the trainers, trying to get himself ready. But I would say that we’re at least, I don’t know, a month or six weeks away from getting him. That’s just a guess.”

Dante played in just six games last season, where he averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal per game. His presence on the block is highly anticipated, where he is expected to play alongside fellow big-men Franck Kepnang and Nathan Bittle, both of whom were 5-star recruits as well.

With so many new players and moving pieces on the team, it is hard to predict what the rotations will look like on this team at the start of the year, but once Dante is healthy and ready to hit the floor, you can expect him to be a major part of the team’s expected success.

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