It wasn’t supposed to be close, and in the end it wasn’t. There were stretches in the first half when the visiting Arkansas Pine Bluff men’s basketball unit kept it close with the Oregon Ducks on Saturday afternoon, but the visitors were overmatched and bested by the Ducks, 80-59. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205819007@@
The Ducks (6-1) and the Golden Lions (1-5) weren’t slated as evenly matched opponents as their records indicated, and as their matchup progressed in the second half, it was evident the final count would not be close. Arkansas-Pine Bluff had only a ten-man roster with only eight members playing against Oregon, and only three scored in double digits. On the flipside, 11 Ducks saw court time, with five players achieving ten or more points. Tony Woods added nine more before fouling out in the second half.
From the tip for the first six or so minutes, the Ducks were lightning, ripping off a 18-2 lead with every Ducks starter putting points on the board within the first three minutes. Then things got sloppy for Oregon. Arkansas Pine-Bluff went on an 11-0 run to pull within seven points. Oregon attacked right back later in the half, stretching the advantage out to 17 at 36-19, but again Arkansas Pine-Bluff responded with another eleven-point outburst, allowing Oregon a single made foul shot to close the opening act at 37-30.
“We got the big lead out of the gate and then after that we got sloppy,” head coach Dana Altman said. “Twenty-one turnovers is a big concern, and fundamentally we are just not very sound.”
The 21 turnovers is a season high for Oregon. @@http://www.goducks.com/pdf8/1018728.pdf@@
The three-point shooting in the first half was dismal for both sides, as they combined to go 2-of-17 from beyond the arc.
Arsalan Kazemi was chief of the boards, hauling in ten rebounds in only 13 minutes of play. @@named checked@@
Oregon came out with more focus in the second portion of play, outscoring the visitors 22-7 in the initial eight minutes of the half (including an 11-0 run across four minutes) to take a 59-37 lead. Carlos Emory was a big contributor in the second half adding 12 to his first half tally of four. The Ducks led by as much as 27 in the second half.
“When he (Emory) attacks the basket with his athleticism he gives us a big lift,” Altman said.
The large lead allowed Altman to get some of is rarely used reserves some playing time as Fred Richardson, Austin Kuemper, Coleton Baker and Nicholas Lucenti all recorded minutes.
Emory was the high-scorer for Oregon with 16 while Kazemi and Damyean Dotson added 11 with Kazemi registering a double-double with 13 boards. Dominic Artis and E.J. Singler scored ten.
Turning point. After allowing the Golden Lions to hang around heading into intermission, the game was all but over within the first four minutes of the second half as after giving up a basket the Ducks scored 11 unanswered, gathering a 16-point lead, which the Ducks relentlessly added to.
On the horizon. The Ducks will have a week-long break before facing Idaho State at home on Dec. 8, followed by another week-long break before taking on Nebraska in Eugene Dec. 15.