Jesse Zarzuela, Jadrian Tracey lead Oregon to blowout win over Tennessee State

Despite rolling without its two starting big men for much of the night, the Oregon men’s basketball team cruised to victory on Friday.

The Ducks trounced Tennessee State, 92-67, to improve to 3-0 on the year.

Jadrian Tracey led the Ducks with 15 points in just 19 minutes and five Oregon players scored in double figures. Jesse Zarzuela had 14 points and four assists, and Kwame Evans Jr. led the Ducks with eight rebounds and three steals.

“I just wanted to come in and give my team some energy,” Tracey said. “I want to make the right plays and I’m just glad my teammates were able to find me tonight. Like I said last week, we have a lot of dudes on our team who can do a lot of things and it can be anybody’s night and when my number was called I just felt like I was ready.”

Oregon shot a season-high 9-of-20 (45%) from three-point range and 13-of-18 (72%) from the free-throw line.

“We thought our depth at the guard sports was pretty good,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Kario Oquendo) has got experience, (Zarzuela) has got experience — (Keeshawn Barhtelemy), (Jermaine Couisnard). ( Brennan Rigsby) has been playing well. Those guys really played through, especially when we had to go small. … I thought our bench gave us a big, big lift.”

But it wasn’t all positive news for the Ducks on Friday. They were without all-conference center N’Faly Dante once again as he is still dealing with a knee injury. Midway through the first half, starting center Nate Bittle left with an apparent injury to his left wrist and did not return.

Evans Jr., the Ducks’ five-star freshman, got his second start in as many games and looked sharp early. He scored on Oregon’s first two possessions, including a big dunk in transition following a turnover.

Points off turnovers 👌 #GoDucks

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— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) November 18, 2023

Oregon got some big contributions from its bench early, too, and raced out to a 22-15 lead by the time the first media timeout rolled around.

Bittle helped push the Ducks’ lead to double digits with a perfectly executed pick-and-roll that led to an easy dunk on a lob from Keeshawn Barthelemy. Then, Barthelemy knocked down jumpers on Oregon’s next two possessions to push the lead to 33-21.

“I thought Nate shot a couple quick there in the first half, but I thought for the most part we were getting pretty good looks,” Altman said of the Ducks’ shot selection.

But Oregon struggled on both ends of the floor over the final eight minutes. Tennessee State punished the Ducks in transition on multiple occasions for a few easy buckets, and Oregon was unable to consistently generate open looks.

On the final play of the half, though, Zarzuela sent the Ducks into the break with a spark. Jermaine Couisnard stole an inbounds pass and kicked the ball out to Zarzuela who knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer and was fouled in the process. He buried the ensuing free throw for a four-point play that boosted Oregon’s lead to 48-40.

“It just saved us from getting yelled at by coach, honestly,” Zarzuela joked when asked about the sequence.

When the second half began, the Ducks were forced to roll without Bittle. They opened the half with a lineup of Zarzuela, Barthelemy, Tracey, Couisnard, and Evans.

Even without Bittle, the Ducks ran away with the game immediately after the break. They opened the second half on a 22-7 run that featured highlight reel dunks from Kario Oquendo and Mahamadou Diawara.

Oregon outscored the Tigers, 44-27, during the second half and was able to get a few of its walk-ons on the floor during the final minutes of the game.

The Ducks will now set their sights on their Nov. 20 matchup with Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. The game will air on ESPN+ and is slated for a 5 p.m. PT tip-off.