The Ducks will live to play another day.
Head coach Dana Altman and the Oregon men’s basketball team defeated Creighton 71-58 in game two of the College Basketball Invitational Championship Series on Wednesday, extending the series to a decisive third game on Friday. After dropping the first game in Omaha on Monday, Altman was pleased to see his team bounce back.
“That was a much different effort from our basketball team (Wednesday) than what we had on Monday,” Altman said. “Our players were really disappointed when they were able to watch the film on Tuesday, and I just thought the emotion was so much better.”
Both teams got off to slow starts in the early moments of the game, and after the first five minutes just nine total points had been scored. The pace began to pick up when Oregon went on an 8-2 run to take a 15-8 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The Ducks continued to hold a lead throughout the half, using timely steals and fast break points to take a 35-21 lead into the intermission.
“Coach was trying to get us to get after the ball and get some hands on passes,” freshman guard Johnathan Loyd said. “Because last game we didn’t cause enough turnovers, so we felt like we could get up and pressure them a little bit more.”
Any fears of a letdown in the second half were quickly abated, as Oregon took off on a 9-2 run in the opening minutes and forced Creighton to take a timeout less than three minutes in. By that point, the Ducks had extended the lead to 21 and the Bluejays simply could not find a consistent offensive rhythm.
A crowd of almost 8,000 people at Matthew Knight Arena awarded the Ducks with a standing ovation during that timeout, and Altman certainly took notice of the crowd’s effect.
“Even though we’ve been really inconsistent this year, the crowd’s been really consistent for us,” Altman said. “The students have been outstanding.”
Creighton would not go away without a fight, however, and slowly chipped away at the lead as the second half wore on. With 8:21 remaining junior guard Malcolm Armstead fouled Darryl Ashford, who sunk two free throws to cut the deficit to 12.
“If it wouldn’t have been for a few careless turnovers in transition there, I thought we could have really opened it up,” Altman said.
Senior Oregon guard Jay-R Strowbridge responded with a three-pointer less than two minutes later, which pushed the advantage back to 15 and effectively put the game away for good. For Strowbridge and fellow senior Joevan Catron, losing a final game at home simply was not an option.
“I think there was a sense of urgency for us,” Catron said. “We didn’t want our season to end on a loss at home.”
Indeed, it was Catron who put the final touches on the win with two three-pointers in less than a minute, ensuring one final game at Matthew Knight Arena.
At the final whistle, the Ducks had a convincing 13-point win to put in the books. Catron led the way with 18 points and six rebounds, while Armstead put together a well-balanced game with 14 points, six assists, and five steals. Sophomore forward E.J. Singler added 10 points, while Strowbridge and junior guard Garrett Sim each finished with nine points.
Altman was also impressed with the play of Loyd, who had six assists and three timely steals.
“We had some moments where defensively Johnny Loyd really set a tone,” Altman said. “Our guys did some really good things.”
In all, Oregon forced 20 Creighton turnovers and compiled 13 steals, adding 35 points off of the giveaways in the process.
“We felt they scored too much and too easily in the last game,” Loyd said. “Gave them too many easy baskets, and that fueled them on offense and defense.
“Our foundation was defense.”
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