EUGENE, Ore. - Tony Osburn hit four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 18 points, but Oregon sank a season-best 12 threes as the Ducks defeated the Mavericks 80-57 Sunday night in Eugene.
Omaha Men's Basketball had its four-game winning streak snapped as it finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-8 record.
Chris Crutchfield was on Oregon head coach Dana Altman's staff before Crutchfield was hired by Omaha in 2022. On Sunday, Crutchfield's team hung with Oregon for about the first 30 minutes.
"We were able to control the pace of the game because I did not want to get in a run-and-gun game. We're short on bodies," Crutchfield said. "I thought our guys did a great job in the first half of controlling the pace and hitting enough shots to stay close. But in the end, their size became a factor."
Oregon (7-6) was clicking early as it built an 18-5 lead seven minutes into the game.
But Omaha then settled in, using a 9-0 run to pull within 20-17 with 8:25 left in the first half.
Grant Stubblefield capped that run with back-to-back driving layups.
Oregon's lead stayed in single digits for nearly the rest of the first half.
Stubblefield, who was making his return to the court after missing seven games with an injury, made another contested layup with seven seconds left in the half to pull Omaha within seven before Oregon's Wei Lin hit a half-court shot at the buzzer as the Ducks led 39-29 at the break.
Omaha got within eight twice in the opening minutes of the second half, but Oregon's lead stayed in double figures after that.
Omaha was within 59-47 when Osburn hit a three with nine minutes to go. Oregon stretched out its advantage in the closing minutes.
Besides Osburn, freshman
Brock Scholl started at center and finished with nine points and six rebounds, Stubblefield scored eight first-half points and
Valentino Simon was plus-7. Oregon was able to contain Omaha's top scorer this season,
Lance Waddles, holding him to four points as he was saddled by foul trouble.
Oregon took advantage with its size inside as it out-rebounded Omaha 47-33 and scored 36 points in the paint compared to Omaha's 18.
Omaha now turns its attention to Summit League play as it plays at South Dakota State on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 4:15 p.m. CT on the Summit League Network. Gary Sharp has the call on 1290 KOIL and the Varsity Network.
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