LAS VEGAS — N'Faly Dante had 16 points and a career-high 21 rebounds and Oregon used several long runs to pull away and beat Georgia 82-71 in the season-opener for both teams on Monday.
The Ducks, quarterfinalists in the NIT last year, only trailed after an opening free throw, using 11-0 and 14-2 runs to lead 25-10. It was 40-30 at halftime and a 9-0 burst, featuring five points by Brennan Rigsby, helped put the game away at making it 63-46. The Ducks led by as many as 20, at 67-47.
The Bulldogs got within 78-68 on Jabri Abdur-Rahim's 3-pointer with 1:56 to go. Another 3 by Blue Cain with 1:04 left made it 79-71, but the Ducks held on.
Rigsby also scored 16 and Jermaine Couisnard added 14 points for the Ducks. Kario Oquendo, who started 59 of 60 games for Georgia the past two seasons before transferring, scored seven for Oregon.
Adbur-Rahim led the Bulldogs with 18 points and Cain and RJ Melendez had 12 apiece.
Georgia improved by 10 wins, from six to 16, last year in coach Mike White's first season — the second-biggest increase in regular-season wins by any Power 5 program.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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