Pritchard scores 29 points, No. 9 Oregon beats Arizona State

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 29 points and No. 9 Oregon held off Arizona State 78-69 on Saturday night.

Much of the game was a personal duel between Pritchard and Arizona State’s Remy Martin, who also had 29 points.

Chris Duarte added 20 points for the Ducks (14-3, 3-1 Pac-12). They have won 11 of their last 12 games against the Sun Devils.

Arizona State (10-6, 1-2) remained one of only two Pac-12 teams, along with Washington State, that has never won at Matthew Knight Arena, which opened in 2011.

After Arizona State pulled to 65-60 with four minutes remaining, Pritchard responded with a three-point play and the Ducks milked that advantage to the end.

The Ducks started the game shooting well from distance, with five 3-pointers in seven attempts in the opening six minutes on the way to a 19-12 advantage. The Sun Devils rallied to tie it at 24.

Oregon kept up its torrid shooting and took advantage of ASU missing seven of its last eight shot attempts in the first half for a 40-31 halftime lead.

Pritchard’s sixth 3-pointer pushed Orego’s lead to 45-31, but the Sun Devils battled back and Martin scored seven consecutive Arizona State points to cut it to 53-48.

The Ducks pushed the lead back into double digits, but again it was Martin responding with another seven-point spurt to draw the Sun Devils to 65-60 before Pritchard’s three-point play put Oregon back up by eight.

BIG PICTURE

Arizona State: The Sun Devils continue to have problems with Oregon, losing 11 of the last 12 meetings. After three road games to begin the Pac-12 season, Arizona State is home for the next three.

Oregon: The Ducks are 10-0 at home, sweeping the Arizona schools at home for the second consecutive year.

MOVING UP

Payton Pritchard moved up to 10th on Oregon’s career scoring list with 1,630 points. Dillon Brooks had been 10th with 1,612.

ABSENT AGAIN

Oregon freshman C.J. Walker was not in uniform for the third consecutive game due to an ailing back. The 6-foot-8 Walker had started six games and was averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Arizona State: Host Colorado on Thursday night.

Oregon: At Washington State on Thursday night.