It was business as usual for the Oregon men’s basketball team as they cruised 84-55 over Idaho State (4-6) Sunday night at McArthur Court. The No. 22 Ducks (10-0) remain one of six undefeated teams in the nation.
Oregon Coach Ernie Kent had no complaints about the team’s performance.
“We were very business like, workman like, in the game and that was exactly where we needed to be in a game like this,” Kent said.
The Bengals took the lead on the first basket of the game when senior Akbar Abdul-Ahad nailed a three-point jumper. But senior Aaron Brooks answered right back hitting his own three-point shot on the next possession. Freshman Joevan Catron’s lay-up on Oregon’s next possession gave the Ducks a lead they would not relinquish.
Junior Malik Hairston had a season-high for the second consecutive game with a game-high 21 points against the Bengals. Hairston also tied career-highs in rebounds (12) and blocks (3) as he recorded his fourth career double-double.
Brooks added 18 on a night where he moved back to the point guard position for most of the game. Brooks had been played predominantly on the wing, but he moved back Sunday in freshman Tajuan Porter’s absence. Porter sat out because of a toe injury that he sustained Friday night against Eastern Washington.
Junior Bryce Taylor took all seven of his field goals from outside the three-point arc. Taylor hit on four of those tries and finished the night with 14 points. He also added career-high seven assists versus Idaho State. Taylor has scored in double digits in every game for Oregon this season.
“At any moment when the defense forgets about me I’m just stepping up and shooting the ball confidently,” Taylor said.
The Ducks shot over 50 percent from the field for the third straight game, finishing at 53.3 percent. Oregon took almost half of their 60 shots from three-point land (29) and they made almost half of those, draining 14 on the night.
Hairston didn’t think the good shooting night was a big surprise.
“We have been doing a lot of shooting in practice. It’s just us shooting in rhythm and shooting with confidence,” he said. “We are passing the ball, I think, very well at this point. We are just getting great looks and we are burying them.”
For the second consecutive game the Ducks faced a Big Sky Player of the Week. While sixth-year senior David Schroeder played the entire game, he was less than effective finishing five points below his season average of 16 points per game.
Taylor got defensive duty against Schroeder and held him to 33 percent shooting and one for seven from outside the arc.
“He’s tough to guard because he is in great shape and he will run you all over the court and use screens well,” Taylor said. “We wanted to make it difficult once he did catch the ball because we knew he was a great shooter.”
Defensively the Ducks held Idaho State to 36.7 percent shooting. But for the first time all season an Oregon opponent turned the ball over fewer times then the Ducks themselves. The Bengals 10 turnovers were six less than the Ducks.
Oregon will be the front end of a double header next Saturday with the Oregon women at McArthur Court. The men will host Mercer at 1 p.m. as they try to continue their march towards an undefeated non-conference schedule.
Kent thinks that the way the Ducks handle the Mercer game will play a big role for team moral.
“These games can continue to provide us with confidence then it is a good situation right now,” he said. “We need to be business like, we need to put people away, and we are doing exactly that,”
Kent said he would like the team to be able to go home for Christmas on a winning note. They were not able to do last year when they lost to the Portland Pilots 80-72 on the road. When the Ducks come back from the break they will get a chance to revenge last year’s loss to Portland in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
Women’s basketball
The second half of the Mac Court double-header next Saturday will be the Oregon women’s second game of the Pac-10 schedule as they take on Washington State.
The Duck women (7-2) suffered their second loss of the season Saturday afternoon at the hands of Missouri State, 71-56. The Lady Bears were without three starters but were able to ride junior Tahnee Balerio’s game-high 39 points to victory.
“That was quite a performance and you have to tip your hat,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said in a press release. “We knew this was going to be a hostile environment to play in, and while we didn’t come out on top, our effort was there until the end.”
Senior Eleanor Haring led the Ducks with 19 points on eight of 21 shooting. As a team the Ducks made only six of 28 three-point attempts. Senior Jessie Shetters pulled down 11 rebounds for Oregon.
The loss to Missouri State meant the Ducks split their final road trip of the non-conference schedule. Oregon narrowly beat Drake 66-63 on Thursday night.
Oregon has one more non-conference game on the season slate. Brigham Young will visit “The Pit” on Dec. 30.
Before they can wrap up the non-conference season Oregon will open the Pac-10 schedule this week against the Washington schools. The Huskies are next for Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court.