The Oregon men’s basketball team returned to Matthew Knight Arena on Tuesday night to face Pepperdine after their previous game against Baylor, which was the best Altman’s team had looked all season. Unfortunately for the Ducks, issues that had plagued the Ducks earlier this season came to light once again as they fought to beat the Waves 68-59.
If the first half effort against the Bears was two steps forward for the Ducks, then their first half against Pepperdine was one step backwards.The lack of effort the Ducks had shown early in the season began to resurface, and it was even tougher knowing that just three days prior they had gone toe-to-toe with the No.1 team in the country. Against Pepperdine, Oregon found itself trailing by 7 at one point in the first half.
“Defense is not fun,” head coach Dana Altman said when reflecting on his team’s defensive struggles today. “The fun part is shooting the ball, and we got plenty of volunteers for that. We’re just not doing a very good job.”
Shooting struggles continued throughout the first half, and the Ducks had to fight in order to get themselves going again. After a nice run, they held a 37-33 lead at half Tuesday night against Pepperdine.
Will Richardson helped to seal out the game for Oregon. He led all scorers with 19 in addition to four rebounds and seven assists. After a slow start to the season, the point guard is starting to catch fire.
Oregon’s best sequence was when they mounted a 12-0 run greatly influenced by center Franck Kempnang, who brought energy to a team that desperately needed it. It gave the Ducks the momentum they needed to win the game.
Pepperdine’s 12 first half turnovers helped erase an ugly start for the Ducks.
In the second half, the Ducks tried to shut down Pepperdine, only for the Waves to keep their foot firmly planted in the doorway. Whenever there seemed to be some separation between the two teams, Pepperdine yanked themselves back into the game. Throughout the second half, the game was within single digits. The Ducks found their biggest lead of the game at the final buzzer, with 9 points.
Another player that asserted his dominance on this game was Nate Bittle. In the final non-conference game, he was given a larger role. The freshman from Central Point, Oregon, had career highs points (8), rebounds (five), blocks (three), steals (one) and minutes played (20). He was all over the court.
“Coach called my name, and I’ve been ready for this,” Bittle said. “I just went out there and played as hard as I could. You gotta play defense to create offensive possessions so I just tried to lock down on defense.”
Head coach Dana Altman also was quick to give credit to his great performance.
“Nate did a great job,” he said. “Big, big difference… I thought he did an unbelievable job tonight and changed the game.”
The win concluded what was a tough non-conference slate for the Ducks. Sitting at 7-6, they have a lot to improve on before March. The non-conference games allowed Oregon to find their identity prior to the rest of their conference games, and it starts with defense.
“The teams with good defenses, they win,” Altman said. “All of our guys have got to get a lot more aggressive defensively.”
With the team officially on break for Christmas, Oregon will not return to Matthew Knight until Dec. 30 when it faces off against the Colorado Buffaloes in the third conference game of the season.
