Oregon survives late rally attempt to beat UC Riverside

Oregon won for the fourth time in its last five games Wednesday night, though it didn’t come without some late drama.

The Ducks nearly blew their double-digit lead in the final minutes before holding on to defeat UC Riverside, 71-65, in a nonconference men’s basketball game at Matthew Knight Arena.

Guard Brennan Rigsby, in just his fourth game of the season, led the Ducks (6-5) with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Center N’Faly Dante also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists; Will Richardson had 13 points and five assists; and Rivaldo Soares had 12 points and six rebounds.

But the Ducks also had 16 turnovers and were outscored 22-12 at the end of the game as the Highlanders (6-4) made a late push to steal a win.

“We were guarding, taking away easy baskets and then we just let them go on a run,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “It definitely puts a damper on it.”

The Ducks led 36-32 at halftime and were still up four points when they went on a 16-3 run to go up 57-40 with 9:05 to play.

“I thought our energy was good, we were flying around, knew where guys were, that definitely was where we got our separation,” Altman said. “But again, you’re up 17 with nine minutes to go, you gotta take care of the ball.”

Seven of the points during that Oregon run came from Rigsby, a junior college transfer who was out with a high ankle sprain at the start of the season.

He had a steal and score, a 3-pointer and two free throws during that stretch. In his first three games, Rigsby combined to score 13 points against Washington State, UCLA and Nevada.

“Just letting the game come to me and not really trying to force the action,” Rigsby said. “Just being patient.”

Oregon still led 59-43 with 7:00 to play when UC Riverside went on a run of its own.

The Highlanders made nine of their next 10 shots from the field and scored on 10 of their next 11 possessions to cut their deficit to 68-65 with 22 seconds to play.

Oregon was 3-for-7 from the field during that same stretch with two turnovers, though it also went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 6:08.

That included two free throws from Soares with 20.8 seconds left to give the Ducks a two-shot lead, 70-65. A missed 3-point attempt by the Highlanders was corralled by Richardson, who was immediately fouled and made 1-of-2 at the line for the final 71-65 advantage with 10.3-seconds to play.

“They’re a really good team and they’re really talented and they can shoot the ball well and we kind of let them in the game again,” Rigsby said. “ … I think that’s a learning experience for us and we have to keep learning how to close out games.”

Short-handed for a while longer

The Ducks again played without injured players Nate Bittle, Keeshawn Barthelemy, Jermaine Couisnard and Ethan Butler.

Altman said not to expect any of them back for a couple of weeks at least.

“Hopefully when we come back from Christmas they’re able to practice,” Altman said of the group. “We got a few days there where we can get them some time and try and get some things organized, but I don’t anticipate anything before Christmas.”

Barthelemy was a starter at guard until suffering a lower leg injury against Houston in the fourth game of the season.

Center Bittle played in the first six games and started three but also had a lower leg injury against Michigan State in Nov. 25.

Couisnard, a high-profile transfer guard from South Carolina, underwent knee surgery right before the season started. Butler also hasn’t played this season.

The Ducks have two more home games — Saturday vs. Portland and Tuesday vs. Utah Valley — before breaking for the holiday. They resume Pac-12 play on Dec. 31 against Oregon State at Matthew Knight Arena.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks beat UC Riverside Highlanders in men's basketball