PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oklahoma freshman Trae Young’s 43-points against Oregon was noted even from afar by Sooner alum Buddy Hield.
Young scored 30 in the second half alone, and Oklahoma defeated the Ducks 90-80 on Sunday, the final day of the Phil Knight Invitational.
“I found my teammates and found some for myself,” Young said afterward. “My teammates did a great job of knocking down shots and that opened up the floor for me. “
It was the most points for a Sooner since Hield had 46 in then-No. 1 Oklahoma’s 109-106 loss to No. 2 Kansas in triple overtime on Jan. 4, 2016.
Hield, who now plays for the Sacramento Kings, went to Twitter after the game: “Go get you 40 then Trae,” he posted.
Young made four 3-pointers and added seven assists in the win for the Sooners (4-1), who won two of three at the Thanksgiving weekend tournament dubbed the PK80. Christian James added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Young has scored at least 20 points in his last four games and he’s been the Sooners’ leading scorer in all five games this season.
Paul White led Oregon (5-2) with 17 points, and the Ducks finished with a disappointing two losses at the event celebrating the 80th birthday of the team’s most famous booster.
Oregon got within 60-57 on Mikyle McIntosh’s hard-fought layup midway through the second half. Victor Bailey Jr.’s dunk pulled the Ducks even closer. After an Oklahoma free throw, McIntosh hit a 3-pointer to give the Ducks a 62-61 lead, their first since early in the first half.
The lead was short-lived and Oklahoma went up 70-66 on Jamuni McNeace’s dunk with 7:45 left. Young added a pair of layups to push the margin to eight points.
Young’s 3-pointer gave Oklahoma a 79-69 lead with 4:38 left. The Sooners led by as many as 13 points down the stretch.
“Obviously Trae was fantastic, dictated right there at crunch time especially, but throughout the 40 minutes,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said.
Oregon’s Troy Brown was hurt and headed to the locker room in the last minute of the game. His condition was not immediately available.
Oregon was coming off an 89-79 overtime victory over DePaul on Friday. Payton Pritchard led the Ducks with 29 points. But Oregon fell in its PK80 opener to UConn, 71-63.
The Sooners fell to Arkansas 92-83 to open the tournament before defeating Portland 93-71.
Oregon and Oklahoma were in the tournament’s Motion Bracket, playing in the first game Sunday morning at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. The 16-team field included No. 1 Duke and three other teams in the top 10 of the AP rankings.
Oregon jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, but Oklahoma went on an 11-0 run to go up 17-14, capped by Christian James’ 3-pointer. The Sooners stretched the lead to 24-17 after a pair of free throws from Khadeem Lattin.
Bailey’s 3-pointer and Elijah Brown’s free thrown pulled Oregon within 37-35 with 4:38 left, but Oklahoma scored seven unanswered points to lead 44-35.
The Sooners went into the break with a 48-40 lead. Young led all scorers with 13 for Oklahoma.
“We had a lot of bad fouls and a lot of bad possessions. Our ball movement on the offensive end was very poor. We got beat in every phase of the game,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said.
The last time the two teams met was in the 2016 Elite Eight, with the Sooners coming out on top 80-68. Oklahoma fell to eventual champion Villanova in the Final Four.
The teams have met three total times, with Oregon winning in both 1939 and 1940.
Altman was an assistant to Kruger at Kansas State from 1986-89.
BIG PICTURE
Oklahoma: Young combined for 61 points in Oklahoma’s first two PK80 games, more than any other player in the tournament.
Oregon: Earlier this week the Ducks signed five-star center Bol Bol, son of the late Manute Bol. Oregon has the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. … All five of the Ducks’ starters were averaging in double figures.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma heads home to host North Texas on Thursday.
The Ducks host Boise State on Friday night.
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