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Young leads Oregon past Western Carolina

Nov 14, 2013 - 8:42 AM 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."

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.

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.

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.

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.