EUGENE, Ore. — An extended break allowed Oregon’s Eugene Omoruyi to recharge.
Omoruyi scored 26 points and the No. 21 Ducks extended their winning streak at home to 27 games with a 82-69 victory over California on Thursday night.
“Just being able able to go home and see family helped me lock back in,” Omoruyi said. The Ducks had an 11-day break between games over the holidays.
It was the seventh straight overall victory for the Ducks (7-1, 2-0 Pac-12), who led by as many as 12 points down the stretch. Oregon has won eight straight against the Golden Bears.
Matt Bradley scored 21 points, including four 3-pointers, for Cal (5-5, 0-3).
“We made some errors and had some plays we’d like to have back. I thought the first half we played really confidently and we competed well throughout the night,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “In the second half, we just had a drought. We put so much pressure on our defense.”
The Ducks opened the season with an 83-75 loss to Missouri, but they won their next capped by an 80-41 victory over Portland on Dec. 19. Oregon’s game against UCLA that was set for Dec. 23 was postponed because of an official tested positive for coronavirus.
California had won three straight, including a 70-65 victory over Seattle on Dec. 22.
Bradley went into the game leading the league with an average of 19.14 points, while Oregon’s Omoruyi ranked third with an average of 18.14 points.
Bradley missed the last two games with an injured ankle, but started against the Ducks. His 3-pointer with just over five minutes left in the first half gave Cal a 27-26 lead after trailing by as many as seven points. Makale Foreman added a 3 to extend the lead.
Aaron Estrada hit a 3-pointer to give the Ducks 36-35 lead at the break.
Chandler Lawson’s layup put Oregon up 55-49. The Ducks pushed the lead to 71-62 on a pair of 3-pointers from Chris Duarte, who finished with 19 points and five 3s.
“Eugene did a tremendous job finishing inside,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “He was 10 for 11 around the basket, so just a phenomenal job there of finishing inside.”
Two other Pac-12 games scheduled for New Year’s Eve were postponed. Coronavirus testing results and contact tracing at Oregon State forced the Beavers to call off their game at home against Stanford, while Washington State’s game at home against Arizona State was also put off because of COVID-19 protocols.
Oregon’s winning streak at Matthew Knight Arena is the fourth-longest active home streak in Division I. It is the second-longest in school history.
BIG PICTURE
California: Starting forward Grant Anticevich had an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 18 and has missed three games. He was averaging 19.5 points in the two games before his surgery. “A little bit disjointed without Grant, obviously, and we’re going to have to adjust to not having him. One day he’ll be back, but it won’t be tomorrow, so we’ve got to play a little bit better without him,” Fox said.
Oregon: Freshman guard Jalen Terry was unavailable, but it was uncertain whether it was coronavirus related. … The Ducks continue to be without Will Richardson after thumb surgery. He is expected to return in late January or early February.
UP NEXT
California is set to play Oregon State on Saturday, if the Beavers complete the COVID-19 protocol.
Oregon is scheduled to play Stanford on Saturday night.
