Young leads Oregon past Western Carolina
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eugene, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Joseph Young poured in a career-high 36 points and grabbed six rebounds to help No. 18 Oregon bounce back from a sluggish first half and run away with a 107-83 victory over Western Carolina on Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon (2-0) led by just two at the break, but outscored the Catamounts 66-44 in the second half en route to the double-digit victory.
"We played better on defense and came out with more intensity," Young said of the team's second-half turnaround. "We attacked and got to the free throw line."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mike Moser netted 26 points and pulled down five boards, while Elgin Cook chipped in 16 points off the bench for the Ducks, who opened the season with an 82-75 win over Georgetown at Camp Humphreys in Seoul, South Korea.
"Mike is a good player," Oregon head coach Dana Altman said of Moser. "He's skilled. He has a great feel for the game."
Trey Sumler led the Catamounts (2-1) with 29 points and James Sinclair contributed 17 points in WCU's first setback of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sumler made his season debut after being reinstated from a two-game suspension prior to the game.
With the Ducks clinging to a 41-39 lead, Young and Moser opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to push the margin to eight.
Sumler's jumper just over four minutes into the half brought WCU within 54-47, but Young answered with a three-point play that sparked a 17-8 Oregon swing, which Moser capped with a trey to give the Ducks a 16-point lead with 11:50 left in the contest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Catamounts quickly countered, as Sumler scored 10 points in a 12-2 run that trimmed the margin to 73-67, but the Ducks used a 10-3 swing to push the lead back above double-digits.
Oregon then held WCU without a field goal for nearly five minutes down the stretch to keep the Catamounts at bay.
Early on, Oregon built a 28-17 lead with just under 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but WCU reeled off an 11-2 swing to make it a two-point game, which is where the margin stood at halftime.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Oregon has won 16 straight home openers ... The Ducks shot 65.3 percent (32- of-49) from the field, including an 8-of-14 mark from 3-point range ... Both teams finished with 29 rebounds.