Freshman Kel'el Ware carries Oregon to blowout win over Montana State

Many of the issues that plagued Oregon men’s basketball during its shocking loss to UC Irvine last week popped up again on Monday.

But after a sluggish start, the Ducks found their footing in the second half and raced past the Montana State Bobcats for an 81-51 win at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

Freshman big man Kel’el Ware led Oregon with a dynamic performance off the bench and racked up a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Will Richardson added 12 points and six assists, and Quincy Guerrier added 11 points and seven boards.

A 5-star freshman who was the No. 2 center in his class, Ware put his versatility and athleticism on display Monday. He blocked two shots and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc on a night when the Ducks dealt with some early shooting struggles.

“He did play harder tonight — his defense was much more active,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “A couple of awareness plays he made that he hadn’t been making. He had a much better game. A much better purpose.

“Really good to watch him play a little bit harder. That was his knock coming in; that he didn’t play hard enough, his motor wasn’t good enough.”

While centers N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle each started for the Ducks, Ware was the one who provided a spark when Oregon badly needed it.

Montana State, which won the Big Sky last season, trailed by just seven with three minutes to go in the first half. The Bobcats were able to hang around, in part, because of a poor early shooting performance from the Ducks.

They shot just 28% from three-point range in the first half and missed eight of its first 10 threes.

But Ware delivered massive dunks on back-to-back possessions late in the half to propel the Ducks to a double-digit halftime lead.

BACK-2-BACK dunks from Kel’el Ware 😤💪

📺Pac-12 Network
📱https://t.co/ZP3DLsobkj@OregonMBB | #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cZJxTtI2N0

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 16, 2022

The momentum carried over through the break as Oregon went on a 16-3 run to start the second half to take control of the game for good.

“I thought we got it inside a few times; that gave our shooters a little better look,” Altman said of what changed offensively in the second half. “The first 10 minutes we were pretty stuck on the perimeter. They threw a (1-3-1 zone) at us, which you don’t see very often. … They weren’t bad looks, but we just got a little three-happy.”

Oregon finished 12-for-27 (44%) from three on the night. That came just four days after an abysmal 4-for-22 performance from downtown in a home loss at the hands of UC Irvine that prompted Altman to blast his team in his postgame press conference

He described the loss as “a poor mental effort” and said his team didn’t compete.

On Tuesday, though, he saw a much-improved sense of urgency.

“It showed our immaturity the other day when we didn’t hit shots and our energy levels just went completely down,” Altman said. “I told our guys that — we’ve got some vets, that shouldn’t happen.”

The Ducks will face arguably the toughest test of their non-conference schedule on Sunday when they host No. 3 Houston in Eugene.

The Cougars went 32-6 last season and reached the elite eight. They return All-American guard Marcus Sasser, who is averaging 15.7 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 steals on the year.

“(Houston’s Kelvin Sampson) isn’t a good coach; he’s a great coach,” Altman said. “Kelvin, I’ve known home for 37-some years. he’s a really good coach everywhere he’s been. He does a great job. He knows the kind of player he wants to get. He’s hard on them, but he gets them to play the way he wants them to play.”