Bol Bol’s double-double leads No. 14 Oregon over E. Wash.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Playing alongside highly touted freshman Bol Bol comes with benefits for Oregon's other post players.
"It's been pretty natural trying to adjust, because I can't get all the rebounds," Kenny Wooten said.
Bol had 23 points and 12 rebounds as No 14 Oregon rode its stifling defense to an 81-47 victory over Eastern Washington on Friday night.
Bol's double-double, his second for the Ducks (2-0), was capped by a spinning drive from the left wing that sent his defender sprawling and led to a rim-hanging, two-hand dunk for a technical foul.
It also gave Oregon its largest lead at 42 points. Paul White and Ehab Amin each added 11 points, and Payton Pritchard had 10 points and eight assists.
Oregon outscored the Eagles 24-0 during an early 11-minute run and held them to 14.7 percent shooting in the first half. The 7-foot-2 Bol, whose late father was 7-foot-7 NBA player Manute Bol, made the difference early with 11 points and five rebounds in the first 10 minutes, and the Ducks led 35-15 at the break.
"I'm happy for him," said Wooten, who had nine rebounds. "I knew he was going to do well, and I think he's picking it up really fast."
Cody Benzel led Eastern Washington (0-2) with 16 points. The Eagles were 15 of 65 overall for 23.1 percent after shooting 22 percent in their opening loss to No. 16 Syracuse.
"I thought our activity (on defense) was pretty good and we had some good switches," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "We were trying to get our zone working, and we've just got to be able to make adjustments on the fly."
Oregon was 30 for 61 (49.2 percent) and had a 50-34 edge in rebounds. The Ducks also held a 30-2 margin in points in the paint as 13 of the Eagles' 15 made field goals came from 3-point range, including nine in the second half.
Altman said he expected the visitors to fire away from 3-point range, and 45 of their attempts came beyond the arc.
"They had 35 (attempts) against Syracuse," Altman said, "and Syracuse's zone was really active and pushed them out."
BIG PICTURE
Oregon's quality of competition ramps up with two games in New York, especially if the Ducks face No. 16 Syracuse next Friday night, in what is otherwise a soft 13-game nonconference schedule reflecting Altman's roster turnover this season.
Eastern Washington, picked fourth in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls, will try to find some offensive spark after falling to 1-26 all-time against ranked opponents. The Eagles have two home games before hitting the road again for their next five.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Oregon, which attempted only seven 3-pointers in its opening win against Portland State, had that many in the first seven minutes against the Eagles. The Ducks finished 10-for-25 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Oregon faces Iowa at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night in the 2K Empire Classic and then either UConn or Syracuse in its only games on back-to-back nights of the regular season.
Eastern Washington opens its home season against Green Bay on Friday. The Eagles will host only four of their 11 nonconference games.
