Evans scores 23, Bittle adds 16 points and 11 rebounds; Oregon beats UC Riverside 91-76

EUGENE, Ore. — Kwame Evans Jr. scored 23 points and Nate Bittle added 16 points and 11 rebounds Monday night to help Oregon beat UC Riverside 91-76 in the season opener for both teams.

Stanford transfer Brandon Angel had 17 points and TJ Bamba, who started at Washington State before playing last season at Villanova, scored 12 and grabbed seven rebounds for Oregon.

Bamba hit a jumper and Angel converted a three-point play that gave the Ducks the lead for good. Jackson Sheldstad hit a 3-pointer and Bamba stole a pass and went the other way for a layup to cap a 10-0 spurt that made it 36-28 with 5:55 to play in the first half.

Barrington Hargress, last season’s Big West freshman of the year, led UC Riverside with 20 points. Kaleb Smith added 14, Isaiah Moses scored 13 points with seven assists and Nate Bittle had 11 points.

Moses hit a jumper that trimmed the UC Riverside deficit to seven points with 6:14 to play but Angel made 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and added a layup in an 8-0 spurt over the next 2 minutes and the Ducks led by double figures the rest of the way.

Oregon shot 50% (33 of 66) from the field and made seven more free throws (19) than the Highlanders attempted.