After a loss to the USC Trojans in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals, the Ducks lost out on their chance to make the NCAA tournament and had to settle for an invite in the NIT. The Ducks hosted Rider in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night in Matthew Knight, and played from behind for most of the game, but an offensive spark by Victor Bailey Jr. and Elijah Brown led the Ducks to victory. Bailey finished the game with a career high 23 points on 7 made 3-pointers, while Elijah Brown chipped in 18 points, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Also, Payton Pritchard had a solid stat line of 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Even though the Ducks clawed back to get the win, the Rider Broncs had answers in the paint all night long. The Broncs had 15 offensive rebounds, leading them to have 18 second chance points and help contribute to their 50 points in the paint. Dimencio Vaughn led the Broncs in scoring with 25 points, while Tyere Marshall finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds and Jordan Allen had 17. The Broncs are now 1-10 in national postseason tournaments, and now have a career record of 0-2 in the NIT. For the Ducks, this is their 8th straight postseason appearance and will play the winner of the Marquette vs. Harvard game in the second round of the tournament.

Game Story (by Gabe Ornelas)

Post-Game Interviews

Head Coach Dana Altman, Freshmen Victor Bailey Jr. and Kenny Wooten