N'Faly Dante shines in Oregon's season-opening victory

On3 imageby:Jarrid Denney11/08/22

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Oregon’s shooting performance in the first half of Monday’s season-opener is one Dana Altman will soon want to forget.

But, what Altman saw in terms of defense and rebounding — particularly from senior center N’Faly Dante — provided the Ducks’ head coach with some encouragement amidst a rocky start to the 2022-23 season.

No. 21 Oregon topped Florida A&M, 80-45, Monday at Matthew Knight Arena to kickoff the year. The performance wasn’t nearly as decisive as the final score might indicate, and the Rattlers hung around far longer than the 5,897 fans in attendance expected them to.

The Ducks shot just 6-of-25 (24%) from three-point range, and went 1-for-14 from downtown in the first half.

With four players sidelined due to injuries, and a handful of others working their way back, Oregon had just eight scholarship players available. All eight of them played at least seven minutes, but none had a better night than Dante.

The 6-foot-11 senior poured in a team-high 16 points and grabbed 10 boards to record his fifth career triple-double. He also had four steals and provided a steady defensive presence inside.

“I thought he did some really good things,” Altman said. “He had one little stretch there in the first half where I didn’t think he was focused. But other than that, he was really focused and I thought he did a great job.”

Dante started 27 games for the Ducks last season but spent much of the year playing catch-up as he battled his way back from an ACL injury that kept him on a minutes restriction until January.

During the leadup to this season, Dante was truly, fully healthy for the first time in several years. He was one of the few Ducks who didn’t see their preseason interrupted by injury.

“If you look at our stats from a year ago, our analytics, when he was on the floor, the defense wasn’t bad,” Altman said. “When he was off the floor, it took a big dive. He gives us a presence in there.”

Dante’s energy and tenacity were on display early Monday. He grabbed an offensive board on Oregon’s opening possession and put it back for the first points of the game.

Throughout the first half, his presence inside helped the Ducks overcome a sluggish shooting performance.

“I feel great. I’ve never had, since I’ve been at Oregon, a summer where I could work out with the team and practice with the team. I am really glad to have that. I’m mostly glad to have teammates who trust me and pick me up when I am down. I’m enjoying it.”

Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points in his Oregon debut, and Will Richardson added 11.

Freshman center Kel’el Ware, a 5-star signee and the No. 6 player in the On3 Consensus, scored 8 points, grabbed five rebounds, and blocked three shots in 19 minutes.

“We’ve just gotta get him into second gear, third gear,” Altman said of Ware. “He is talented. He’s bouncy. he had five rebounds, which is good. But, guys threw him a couple of passes he didn’t go get and finish. … He’s just gotta get more used to the pace of the game.”

The Ducks were without forwards Lok Wur and Ethan Butler, as well as guards Brennan Rigsby and Jermaine Couisnard on Monday due to injury.

Altman said all four players will be sidelined once again on Friday when Oregon hosts UC Irvine at 8 p.m. in Eugene.

Couisnard, a senior who transferred in from South Carolina in the offseason and was expected to start for the Ducks, had knee surgery last Monday.

“As you guys probably saw, (Rigsby) has a boot on,” Altman said. “(Couisnard) had surgery. We won’t have him back until late December, early January. … Those four guys are out for awhile.”

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