Omoruyi scores 22, No. 21 Oregon beats Seton Hall 83-70
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Eugene Omoruyi scored 22 points in his second straight strong game and No. 21 Oregon all but shut down Seton Hall star Sandro Mamukelashvili in an 83-70 victory Friday night.
Oregon bounced back from an 83-75 loss to Missouri in its opener, a game in which Omoruyi had a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds in his first game since transferring from Rutgers.
The Ducks (1-1) didn’t pull away until the last eight minutes, when they went on a 14-4 run and built a 16-point lead. Eric Williams Jr. scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Chris Duarte finished with 14 points.
It took Mamukelashvili 15 minutes to score, and that was a bank-in 3 from the wing. The 6-foot-11 senior didn’t score again until he dunked with about five minutes left in the game.
Mamukelashvili came into the game averaging a Big East-leading 21.7 points. He attempted only seven shots and finished with 10 points.
Seton Hall (1-3) is off to its worst start since the 1982-83 team opened with five straight losses. Shavar Reynolds Jr. led the Pirates with 17 points and Tyrese Samuel and Myles Cale each had 11.
Oregon got a boost from LJ Figueroa, transfer from St. John’s who received his NCAA waiver on Friday. He scored six points, grabbed nine rebounds and played tough defense on Mamukelashvili.
Neither team found a shooting rhythm early. Seton Hall missed 10 of its first 12 shots before Samuel’s 3-pointer and dunk and Takal Molson’s back-to-back 3s and lay-in off a steal tied it at 19.
Oregon warmed up at that point, with Duarte and Omoruyi fueling a 13-3 spurt that helped push the Ducks to a 34-28 lead at half.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The game was the Ducks’ second in three days in Omaha because of scheduling problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ducks coach Dana Altman was able to use his connections at Creighton to set up the games at CHI Health Center. Altman coached at Creighton for 16 years before leaving for Oregon in 2010.
Seton Hall: The Pirates started a four-game road trip that has them playing in four states over seven days. They need to get Mamukelashvili more involved in the offense early. He also got off to a slow start in a 76-63 loss at Rhode Island on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Oregon visits Washington on Dec. 12.
Seton Hall visits Penn State on Sunday.
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