Wooten scores career-best 20, leads Oregon over Omaha 84-61

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Oregon wasn't about to let another huge underdog walk off its floor celebrating a stunning upset.

Kenny Wooten jammed that sentiment home for the Ducks, and it also didn't hurt to have another five-star recruit waiting in the wings.

Wooten scored a career-high 20 points and Bol Bol had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oregon past Omaha 84-61 on Saturday night.

Wooten was 9-for-12 shooting from the field with six dunks.

"He rolled to the basket and our guys were looking for him," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "We'd not done a good job with that, and I thought we threw it up to the rim more often tonight and let him go get a few.

"I thought he did a really good job of going and getting the ball."

Bol recorded his fourth double-double of the season for the Ducks (5-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Victor Bailey Jr. added 16 points off the bench and had four 3-pointers.

"I think we did a good job of driving the ball tonight and finding the open guy," Bailey said. "We all can hit shots. We're just trusting in our teammates to make the right play."

Oregon, a 19-point favorite over Omaha, was coming off a humbling loss to 24-point underdog Texas Southern in its last home game. That coupled with a road defeat at Houston knocked the Ducks well out of the Top 25 after being ranked as high as 13th.

This time, Wooten opened with a rebound dunk for the game's first points and finished with consecutive jams in the final 90 seconds for the 19-point favorites.

"Plays like that get our energy going, get all the guys going," said sophomore Abu Kigab, who had seven rebounds in his first career start. "It's fun seeing it and the crowd likes an energy play like that."

Oregon consistently worked the ball to the low post during the first half and easily dominated inside with a 36-13 rebounding margin and a 34-14 edge in points in the paint. The Ducks also made 12 of 23 from 3-point range and shot 58.9 percent overall.

Zach Jackson led the Mavericks (3-7) with 21 points and JT Gibson added 18. Omaha leaned mostly on its 3-point shooting, attempting 31 of its 50 field goals from beyond the arc and hitting 12 while shooting 42.0 percent for the game.

Oregon took control with a 13-0 run and outscored the Mavericks 32-13 over the final 13 minutes of the first half to lead 44-23. Wooten and Bol each had 10 points by halftime.

Louis King, the Ducks' second five-star freshman with the 7-foot-2 Bol, debuted with 11 points after an 11-month recovery from a knee injury. The 6-9 King, who tore his meniscus in January, scored on a putback the first time he touched the ball and added two 3-pointers in the first half.

King was 4 of 6 from the field in 16 ½ minutes, including 3 of 4 from the arc.

"His energy was pretty good, and he was really anxious and hungry to play," Altman said. "I thought he gave us a big, big boost. He's got a really good shot."

BIG PICTURE

Omaha lost its fourth game in a row, all on the road and each by at least 18 points. The Mavericks, picked for eighth in the Summit League preseason poll, have three games remaining before opening league play with three home games.

Oregon's new lineup and 10-man rotation paid dividends against the undermanned Mavericks, but the Ducks still showed the lack of a killer instinct in the second half, particularly on defense at the 3-point line. Omaha was 8 of 14 from the arc in the second half.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

After having nearly as many turnovers (59) as assists (62) in their last four games, the Ducks finished with 18 assists, led by Payton Pritchard's seven, to 10 turnovers.

HIGHLIGHT REEL

When Wooten took a lob and jammed home his fourth dunk, he landed straddling the left shoulder of Omaha's Mitch Hahn, who didn't take kindly to the horseback ride. Hahn shoved Wooten away, which drew the referees' attention, but no foul was called either way.

TIP-INS

The Ducks had two new starters, freshman guard Will Richardson and sophomore forward Abu Kigab, replacing seniors Ehab Amin and Paul White. Oregon had started the same lineup in its first seven games. . It was Omaha's third loss to a Pac-12 team this season. The Mavericks are 0-6 all-time against Pac-12 competition. . Each team had five players make at least one 3-pointer.

STAR WATCH

Bol, who made a driving scoop shot for his first field goal, hit two more 3-pointers and is shooting 50.0 percent (11 of 22) from the arc on the season. He's also 8 of 15 over his last three games.

UP NEXT

Omaha finishes a five-game road trip at Idaho next Saturday.

Oregon hosts San Diego on Wednesday night as part of a four-game homestand.