After Oregon’s opening exhibition victory against Southern Oregon last Wednesday, coach Ernie Kent was adamant about the improvements his team will make on the defensive end in subsequent practices.
That didn’t bode well for visiting Oregon Tech on Tuesday night as the Ducks’ defense hounded the Owls en route to an 84-66 win in front of 8,818 at McArthur Court.
Oregon, playing in primarily a half-court trapping defense, forced 19 Owl turnovers and held them to 38.7 percent shooting from the field. Point guard Aaron Brooks led the Ducks with five of the team’s 10 steals.
“I thought we did a much better job,” Kent said of the defense. “We’ve got a chance to be a really good defensive team if we continue to work in that direction.”
Sophomore guard Malik Hairston recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Oregon, after a three by sophomore forward Maarty Leunen, used an early 13-0 run to take command. Leunen finished with 12 points.
The Ducks led 44-30 at the half after utilizing their inside height advantage. Oregon outrebounded Oregon Tech 20-12 in the first half and 41-28 for the game. The Ducks also outscored the Owls 48-24 in the paint. Oregon shot only 10 three-pointers compared with Oregon Tech’s 21.
“Coach is really emphasizing that we need to go inside-out,” Leunen said. “It will help the perimeter guys more because the defense will collapse and then we get dribble penetration.”
The Ducks built on the 14-point halftime lead and held their largest lead at 82-56 with three minutes remaining in the second half before eventually pulling out the 84-66 win.
“I think we came out with a lot more energy, a lot more intense,” Hairston said. “I think we saw flashes of what this team can do.”
Andre Lawrence, a senior guard from Portland, had a game-high 30 points on 12 of 27 shooting to lead the Owls.
“He’s creative, worked hard, and he’s good at shot faking,” Leunen said of Lawrence. “He just hustled and got his points.”
Oregon’s newest member, Ivan Johnson, again had another statistically solid game down low for the Ducks. In 17 minutes, Johnson finished with 10 points on five of 10 shooting and had two steals. He had a team-high 14 points in Oregon’s opening exhibition game victory against Southern Oregon in 20 minutes of action.
“He has a high basketball IQ, but he needs to grasp the total concept of what it means to play at this level,” Kent said. “There’s probably about eight or nine plays that he’s comfortable with … but he’s done a good job with it so far.”
The Ducks still have work cut out for them before the season officially starts on Sunday against Savannah State. Oregon turned the ball over 16 times on Tuesday.
“We’re going to have some turnovers with how fast we play,” Kent said. “I didn’t think they were bad the first half, but all-in-all, those are things we can still clean up.”
Oregon and Savannah State tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday at McArthur Court. The game begins a streak of three consecutive at home in as many nights for the Ducks, which includes Bowie State on Monday and Pacific on Tuesday.
“We’re definitely ready,” Leunen said. “The season begins. The games really count. For us to get where we want to be, we have to come ready to play and get these games.”

[email protected]