A dejected Payton Pritchard put it best.
“This is a terrible loss.”
Despite a career-high 32 points and 11 rebounds from Bol Bol, No. 18 Oregon men’s basketball (4-2) could not sustain a balanced offense from Texas Southern (2-4), which used center Trayvon Reed and hot-handed 3-point shooting to erase a 13-point lead and take down the Ducks 89-84.
“I’m very disappointed in that,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We haven’t had a loss like that here in a long time.”
Here are three takeaways from the Ducks’ loss:
Defensive intensity
This was a tough loss to swallow for the Ducks. Oregon had a 13-point lead in the second half, and couldn’t close it out. Oregon set its largest lead after going on a 10-0 run early in the second half to extend the lead 51-38. However, it went cold just when Texas Southern got hot.
Sophomore guard John Jones shot 4-of-7, finishing with 20 points. Texas Southern scored 57 in the second half on 50 percent shooting.
Pritchard and Altman believe Oregon needs to fix its defensive intensity at practice, because it’s translating into poor performances in games.
“We take days off, mentally,” Pritchard said. “We just don’t bring it and that needs to change.”
Size battle for Bol
Reed is one of the few players in the country who has a size advantage over Bol. He’s also 7-foot-2, and has 20 pounds on Bol. While he doesn’t shoot from outside like Bol, he was a force in the paint all night long. Reed finished with 23 points, making all nine of his field goals. Oregon was also outrebounded on the offensive glass 11-6.
“We never got physical with him, “Altman said. “He kinda did whatever he wanted.”
Both players led their respective teams in scoring, and both got it going early. Bol’s skills were on full display. He had multiple clutch plays down the stretch. He tied the game twice, once on a straightaway 3 to even the score at 73 with 4:21 left to play. He tied it again minutes later at 75 with two free throws.
No Wooten
Kenny Wooten suffered a scary fall after going up for a block attempt midway through the first half. He went up high for a block, then tumbled through the air over another player, landing hard. Though he walked to the locker room on his own power, he did not return to the court. Altman said he did not know how the severity of the injury, nor when he could return.
While Bol is a skilled player, he hasn’t matched the defensive intensity Wooten has.
“We can’t just lean on Kenny,” Pritchard said. “Honestly, all five guys gotta start defending.”
The last minute of the game was chaotic. Pritchard and Will Richardson turned the ball over consecutively, so Oregon sent players to the foul line. Even when Bol hit a 3 with 14 seconds left to get Oregon within three points, Derrick Bruce sank the final two free throws as the Wildcats took care of business at the line, finishing 16-of-22 for the game.
Just one game removed from making over 30 free throws, Oregon shot 7-of-8 from the line.
“We just don’t do things on a consistent basis, and it showed today,” Altman said.
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august
