N'Faly Dante, Will Richardson lead second-half surge as Oregon opens Pac-12 play with win over Washington State

Oregon’s stars led the way on Thursday as the Ducks notched a convincing win to kick off Pac-12 play.

N’Faly Dante matched his career high with 22 points, and Will Richardson scored 17 points and dished out eight assists to help Oregon to a 74-60 win at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. The Ducks are now 4-4 on the year.

They closed out the night with an impressive second-half surge that served as an encouraging sign for a team that has had a rocky start to the season.

Oregon is still dealing with significant injury absences at the guard spot and leaned on Richardson to play all 40 minutes against the Cougars. In three games over the past six days, Richardson has played 119 out of 120 possible minutes.

“Will, the last three games he’s been phenomenal,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “I can’t say it enough — the transformation he’s made, the way he’s got guys playing.

“I’d like to take a little credit for it, but it’s all him. He’s done a hell of a job. He’s really taken ownership, and guys have followed him.”

The Ducks were sparked by the addition of Brennen Rigsby, who made his Oregon debut after missing the first seven games of the season due to injury. A highly-touted JUCO transfer out of Northwest Florida State College, Rigsby was expected to play around 15 minutes on Thursday as Altman and his staff hoped to ease him back into game action.

But his energy and defensive intensity proved to be so integral in the second half that he played 23 minutes on the night.

Although he scored just two points, the 6-foot-3 sophomore grabbed seven rebounds and finished with a +/- of 16, which was tied for the best among all Oregon players.

“I didn’t wanna play him that much, I got a little carried away,” Altman said with a laugh. “But he was playing really well. The defense, a couple of boards. For not playing for a month, offensively it showed. He had a couple looks that I think he’ll normally get.

“But the defense. … I thought he did some really good thing.”

After a sloppy first half that featured a combined 11 fouls and 13 turnovers between the two teams, Oregon went into halftime knotted at 32-32 with the Cougars.

After the break, the two teams traded baskets with neither able to create much separation for the first nine minutes of the half. But the Ducks began to take hold of the game with 11:33 to go when Rigsby delivered an emphatic putback slam to bring the home crowd to life and give the Ducks a 51-46 lead.

Rigsby’s dunk forced a Washington State timeout and the Ducks immediately forced a turnover on the next Cougar’s possession.

Next time down the floor, Oregon pushed its lead to 53-46 when Dante finished a layup through contact. Two possessions later, Richardson beat a defender off the dribble and slipped a slick wrap-around pass to Dante for another dunk to make it 55-48.

“We need Will to be a leader,” Dante said. “Any time he says something, we all follow. Which is really important. He’s everything for the team. I’m glad he’s stepped up.”

The final outcome was never in question from that point. Oregon closed out the game on a 21-12 run over the final 10 minutes. During that period, the Ducks displayed arguably their best defensive stretch of the season.

They will look to carry that momentum into the weekend when they travel to face No. 21 UCLA (6-2, 1-0) in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. PT and will air on ESPN.