Six-foot Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks emphatically dunked the ball with his left hand, signaling the end for Savannah State on Sunday night in front of 8,267 at McArthur Court. This occurred only one minute 36 seconds into the game.
The score put the Ducks up 9-0 after Ray Schafer scored the first seven points of the game. Brooks’ bucket was nearly enough to outscore Savannah State in the first half. The Ducks (1-0) allowed only 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play and the fewest points to a Division I opponent since 1941 (15 vs. Utah), rocking the Tigers (1-1) 83-23.
The 60-point victory was the third-largest in school history.
A point of emphasis has been the play on the defensive end of the floor, an area in which the Ducks showed vast improvement Sunday. The Oregon defense forced numerous air balls and shot clock violations and allowed the Tigers to make only 17.5 percent from the field. In fact, Savannah State didn’t even score until 9:09 into the game, at which point the Ducks had already dropped in 17 points.
“We’ve been practicing that all week – getting defensive stops, pressuring the wings,” said Schafer, who finished with 15 points.
Sixteen of the 27 forced turnovers were steals leading to 36 points. Nine of the 12 Ducks that entered the game recorded at least one steal. Oregon also blocked seven shots, led by Schafer and Chamberlain Oguchi with two apiece.
“They played real sloppy so we took advantage of it,” Oguchi said.
It wasn’t just Savannah State throwing the ball away. Oregon players dove for balls continuously, something Oregon coach Ernie Kent is excited to see.
“I thought they hustled for 40 minutes,” Kent said. “I thought their energy was very, very good in this game. So I was very pleased with their hustle and their effort even though it was an easy game to kind of play a lesser opponent.”
Oguchi scored a career- and game-high 19 points, including 10 of Oregon’s final 13 points. He made six of eight field goal attempts, including three of four from beyond the arc. Two of Oguchi’s shots came on dunks, something that fired up the crowd as well as the Oregon bench.
“I know how energetic the Pit Crew gets,” Oguchi said. “They seem to enjoy the dunks and highlights and stuff. But I think my teammates seem to enjoy it too.”
Malik Hairston scored 12 points and Bryce Taylor added 11 more as they combined to shoot nine of 16 from the field. As a team, Oregon made 60 percent of its field goal attempts.
No Oregon player was in the game for more than 22 minutes, something Kent said is important because Oregon plays three games in three days beginning with Sunday’s game.
“It was a great opportunity for our bench to get some minutes … and gain some confidence,” Kent said. “With three games in three days, trust me their legs are going to feel it so it was an opportunity to get through a game and rest some guys.”
The Ducks host Bowie State tonight in both team’s second game in the Hispanic College Fund Classic. Oregon plays Pacific
Tuesday night. Both games have a 7:30 p.m. scheduled tip-off.

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