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Oregon basketball: 2019-2020 season review and 2020-2021 first-look preview

By Cody Williams

EUGENE, OREGON - MARCH 07: Holding a piece of the net that he cut off, Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks hugs a teammate after playing his final home game against the Stanford Cardinal at Matthew Knight Arena on March 07, 2020 in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon won 80-67. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OREGON - MARCH 07: Holding a piece of the net that he cut off, Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks hugs a teammate after playing his final home game against the Stanford Cardinal at Matthew Knight Arena on March 07, 2020 in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon won 80-67. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Memorable Moments

Ducks take down Trojans in 2 OTs

Oregon made a habit out of coming back from 10 points or more, but this game in late January flipped the script as it was USC down by 11 in the second half before a 17-2 run gave the Trojans the lead. C.J. Walker and Payton Pritchard managed to get the game to OT, but it was Chris Duarte who came up biggest, nearly recording a triple-double with 30 points, 11 rebounds and an eyebrow-raising eight steals. To top it off, Pritchard also made history by becoming the first Pac-12 player ever with 1,500 career points, 600 assists and 500 rebounds.

Oregon edges Arizona by a point in OT

This is cheating a little bit because it’s going to count as two of the four most memorable games, but that’s because both regular-season meetings between the Ducks and Wildcats ended the same way. On January 9, with Pritchard matched up against Nico Mannion and suffering a rare poor shooting night, Will Richardson came to the rescue. The sophomore scored a career-high 21 points, including seven of Oregon’s eight in OT, and punctuated his night with a fadeaway basket with 15 seconds left.

The February rematch in Arizona was a different story because Pritchard was definitely feeling it. Playing a ridiculous 45 minutes, Pritchard nailed six three-pointers en route to a 38-point evening — his first-ever 30-plus outing. Then in OT, Shakur Juiston literally became the entire show for the Ducks, scoring all nine of their points and leaving the Wildcats understandably aghast at dropping another one-point overtime decision.

Ducks pass an early-season test by outlasting Michigan

Oregon entered a mid-December meeting with Michigan having lost its previous two games against ranked opponents, but the Ducks turned up their game to squeak past the highest-ranked team they played all season. The then-No. 4 Wolverines held Pritchard to just four points in the first half, then watched somewhat helplessly as he found driving lanes to his liking and ended up with 23. Naturally, the game went to overtime and Pritchard hit the game-winner, but it wasn’t over until Michigan missed three shots sandwiched around a long replay review.