Dana Altman provides injury update on Oregon's Will Richardson, Brennan Rigsby
In the hours leading up to tip-off on Saturday, the Oregon coaching staff believed that starting point guard Will Richardson would not be able to play.
Head coach Dana Altman said on Thursday that Richardson was “banged up” and had not practiced during the week.
Ultimately, Richardson suited up for the Ducks and scored five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 31 minutes during the dramatic 69-67 win over rival Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday. Afterward, Altman revealed that trainer Clay Jamieson had informed him pregame that Richardson wouldn’t be available due to a lingering hip issue.
But Richardson opted to play anyway.
“Will wasn’t going to play,” Altman said. “The trainers told me in the morning that Will wasn’t going to go. That he shouldn’t go. They said it would just be sore and it would probably not be better for (Oregon’s March 2 matchup with Cal) if he plays. I told Will, ‘It’s your choice — you’re a senior. Clay says you’re not going to hurt yourself any worse but it’s going to be sore or sorer.'”
Richardson, who has struggled to score in recent weeks, appeared to be lacking explosiveness throughout the evening. On the Ducks’ final offensive possession of the night, with the game knotted at 67-67, he had the ball in his hands with a chance to attack the basket. But after N’Faly Dante set a screen for Richardson, he was unable to separate from his defender, and instead opted to dish the ball to Rivaldo Soares along the right wing.
Soares took one dribble before burying a game-winning jumper.
Richardson finished the evening with seven assists and his +/- of five was tied for the second-best on the team.
“He played 30 minutes and I thought he was good,” Altman said. “He had that bad turnover where he kicked it off his foot, but other than that he played well.”
Oregon was also without sophomore guard Brennan Rigsby, who is dealing with a sprained ankle. With Rigsby sidelined and Richardson limited, Jermaine Couisnard and Keeshawn Barthelemy played 26 minutes apiece for the Ducks.
Couisnard likely would have seen a greater share of playing time but dealt with foul trouble during the second half.
After Saturday’s game, Altman was optimistic that Rigsby will make a healthy return this week.
Oregon (16-13, 10-8 Pac-12) will close out the regular season this week when it hosts Cal in Eugene at 8 p.m. Thursday and Stanford at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“We’ve been a very good shooting team from two, but haven’t shot it well from three or the free-throw line — and tonight we kind of turned that around,” Altman said on Saturday. “So, if we get back to shooting those twos well and can hit a few threes like we did tonight, I think we’ll make a little run here.
“But we’ve just got to go home and get better and know that Cal and Stanford will be hungry for wins.”
