Oregon holds off Idaho St. 77-71

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Malcolm Armstead scored a career-high 23 points to help Oregon hold off Idaho State 77-71 on Tuesday night at McArthur Court.

Armstead, a sophomore making his seventh straight start in place of injured point guard Tajuan Porter, was 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range. He also added three assists and three steals for the Ducks (7-4).

Idaho State (2-10) got as close as 64-61 with 5:46 remaining, but Armstead had a hand in the Ducks’ next 10 points to keep Oregon in control. Armstead assisted on back-to-back baskets by Jamil Wilson and Michael Dunigan, then drilled a pull-up 3-pointer and a floater in the lane to give Oregon a 74-68 lead with less than two minutes to play.

"He put this team on his back and carried it through some adversity," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "He took control of the game and had big bucket after big bucket."

Dunigan and Garrett Sim each finished with 14 points for the Ducks, and E.J. Singler added 11 points and seven rebounds. Oregon shot 45 percent from the field and 10-of-22 from 3-point range.

Idaho State kept things tight in the second half thanks largely to guard Amorrow Morgan, who scored 17 of his team-high 21 points after the break. Following an Armstead 3-pointer that gave Oregon an eight-point lead with 10:46 to play, Morgan scored seven straight points and teammate Austin Kilpatrick nailed a trey from the left wing to make it 64-61.

That was when Armstead took over, padding the lead back to six points and allowing the Ducks to ice the game from the free throw line.

"I thought we could have played much sharper," Kent said. "At times it was an ugly game, but the number one thing is to get the win and move on."

Oregon closed a back-and-forth first half on an 8-2 run. Armstead hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left, then followed with a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer to give the Ducks a 36-33 lead at the break.

Earlier in the half, Oregon built a 12-point lead, getting five straight points from Armstead, but Idaho State shot its way back into the game behind guard Broderick Gilchrest.

Gilchrest sparked a 17-4 run with three 3-pointers in less than two minutes, and Demetrius Monroe's offensive rebound and putback gave the Bengals a 25-24 lead, their first since the opening seconds of the game. Chron Tatum hit a jumper and two layups in quick succession to give Idaho State its biggest lead of the game, 31-28, with 2:38 left in the first half.

Gilchrest finished with 20 points, including 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, while Tatum had 12 points and six rebounds.

"(Idaho State) has played everybody well," Kent said. "They have great quickness. I didn't think we were particularly good defensively, but the important thing is that we got the win."