Oregon rallied from eight points down in the second half behind Nate Bittle’s 18 points after halftime to beat Rice 67-63 in Eugene, Ore., on Friday night.
Bittle had 25 points for the game to go with eight rebounds, and the Ducks (2-0) had a big advantage at the free-throw line with 26 made free throws in 38 attempts compared to 8 of 11 for the Owls. Rice was whistled for 29 fouls, 15 more than Oregon.
A Bittle layup with 5:14 to play was the Ducks’ final made basket of the game, but Oregon made 13 free throws after that to seal the win.
An 11-1 Oregon run early in the second half erased a 37-29 Owls lead. Then a 9-0 run for the Ducks was insurmountable for Rice, which trailed by as many as nine points but could only narrow the deficit to three down the stretch.
Oregon’s lineup was at full strength with the season debut of guard Jackson Shelstad, a preseason Big Ten all-conference team member who missed the Ducks’ 60-59 win over Hawaii in the season opener Monday while working his way back from a hand injury suffered in late September.
Kwame Evans Jr., a starting forward who injured his left knee and left the game in the second half against Hawaii, got the start on Friday. Evans and Shelstad finished with 11 points each.
Rice was led by 17 points from Trae Broadnax, 16 from Nick Anderson (including three 3-pointers) and 14 from guard Jalen Smith.
Rice led by as many as seven early in the game, but Oregon took a 20-15 lead on a 3 from Bittle with 7:58 to play before halftime. The Ducks dominated the offensive boards 10-4 in the first 20 minutes and scored 11 second-chance points, but they made just 8 of 30 shots, including 4 of 20 from 3-point range.
Broadnax had 12 of his points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half. His right-handed transition layup over Evans with 46 seconds left gave the Owls a 32-27 lead going into halftime.
