Ten games after opening Pac-12 play with a 77-72 defeat to Oregon State at home, the Oregon men’s basketball team struggled in part two of the Civil War in Corvallis Saturday night, committing 18 turnovers in a 72-57 loss which gave the Beavers their first season sweep since 2010.
No killer instinct, turnovers grounded the Ducks
Oregon had a rather productive first half shooting performance of 44.4 percent from the field, 45 percent in the first half an 39.1 percent from three. But 18 turnovers derailed the Ducks.
The scoring came in spurts, and there wasn’t enough of them. The Ducks had four three minute scoring droughts.
Whether it was in the first half, where they had a chance to create a large lead, or the beginning of the second where they let Oregon State take its first lead of the game, the Ducks struggled to create productive offensive possessions.
The Ducks did not take advantage of Oregon State’s sluggish start, allowing the Beavers to not only get back in the game, but to take their first lead 30 seconds into the second half. Oregon State went on to outscore Oregon 45-29 in the second half.
“Bad turnovers, don’t shoot free throws at all and then they scored 45 points and shoot 54 percent in the second half, that’s not a very good formula for winning on the road,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.
The Ducks need more out of a lot of people
Seven of the eight Ducks to record over 10 minutes of action finished with a negative plus-minus.
Victor Bailey Jr. was the only player in the positives, but Altman said he was unproductive defensively.
Freshman guard Will Richardson was the lone starter to finish better than -10, and he finished -8 thanks to four turnovers.
Guard Payton Pritchard had four straight double digit point games. His last two he reached 20. Today he only took four shots with his lone make being in the second half. He was -16.
“He’s gotta shoot the ball more than four times and that’s my fault,” Altman said. “That’s poor coaching. He’s been playing good. He’s a good offensive player. … We missed him on a few that he should have got opportunities for and like I said, I didn’t run enough stuff for him.”
After scoring a season-high 20 points Jan. 27 against Washington State, forward Kenny Wooten has just one game with over 10 points. Tonight he scored four points and was -14.
Simply put, the Ducks need their whole roster to play better if they want to win any game, regardless of location.
“I thought Will had a couple opportunities he should have taken and didn’t,” Altman said. “Kenny’s simply gotta want the ball more. He’s really struggling offensively. Again a lot of people have got to get a lot better.”
Road games broke the season, now they can save it.
After dropping numerous winnable games at home and on the road throughout the season, Oregon has pretty much been relegated to a ‘Pac-12 Tournament title or bust.’ mindset to make the NCAA Tournament.
In order to improve their odds at winning the tournament, the Ducks need to win out in order to position themselves higher in the conference standings.
Despite its lackluster Pac-12 record thus far, Oregon is just two wins behind Arizona State and Utah, who are tied for third. The 6-6 record and eighth place standing the Ducks possess can be reversed, but they will have to do something they haven’t done all season: win on the road.
Four of Oregon’s final six games are on the road, including a tough finale against first place Washington.
“Within this locker room we still have to band together,” Oregon forward Paul White said. “We still have six regular season games and a huge part of our season which is the tournament. I just think now we just have to change some things going forward and require more out of certain players.”
If the Ducks have any prayer of making the NCAA Tournament, or just winning a second round Pac-12 Tournament game, they will have to find a way to win outside of Eugene.
Oregon is 3-5 on the road this season and is averaging 59.9 points. Even though they possess good defense, 60 points is not enough to consistently win.
They have the perfect opportunity to try their hand at a road win this week, traveling to Los Angeles to take on USC on Thursday and UCLA on Saturday.
An L.A. sweep would not only help their confidence, but their conference standing well. If the Ducks can make the necessary changes by Thursday, it could help them make a splash.
“I think we’re talented enough to, but we’ve got to be a lot more disciplined,” Altman said. “I’ve got to do a much better job at pushing them, obviously because we’re not responding to what we’re trying to do. We’ve just got to get better. Not gonna go on the road and play like that be successful.”
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter@mavpallack
