Oregon men’s basketball got its first taste of adversity in game one of the Progressive Legends Classic as the Ducks topped Detroit 83-66 on Monday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
After ending the first half at a 35-35 tie, the Ducks (2-0) used an 11-0 advantage in second chance points to separate from the Titans (1-1) in the second half to coast to the win.
Senior guard Joseph Young found a way to lead the team with 22 points, but Young shot just 30.4 percent from the field (7-23), eight percent from three (1-12) and committed a team high five turnovers.
In the first half, Young didn’t even have a field goal, going 0-7 from the field, but turned it around with some volume shooting, going 7-16 in the second half.
Lucky for him, Young was bailed out by Jalil Abdul-Bassit’s best performance as a Duck, who set new career highs in points (17) and rebounds (6) on 6-8 shooting.
“I just had to see the first one go in,” Abdul-Bassit said. “It was mainly my teammates, though. They kept me up, kept telling me to be aggressive.”
As a team, Oregon shot 44.8 percent, including a 27.3 clip from three point range, but saw almost 50 percent of its shots come from deep (33 of 67). Several Oregon possessions were cut short by quick pull-up threes, but head coach Dana Altman said he didn’t mind the longer shots, as long as they were open shots.
“We’ve got a lot to work through to make sure we get the best shot available,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We’re in a little bit of a hurry offensively…but I think our guys will learn. I like them having confidence and I want them to be aggressive, but there’s a fine line between being aggressive and taking bad shots.”
Young’s off-night was a good chance to learn more about the freshmen Oregon will rely on consistently this season. Dillon Brooks chipped in 14 points, going 6-12 from the field, while Jordan Bell adjusted shots all night from down low and picked up a team high of nine rebounds.
Casey Benson’s and Ahmad Rorie’s performances didn’t show up in the box score, but both freshmen played plenty of meaningful minutes in a close game.
“We’re asking them to do a lot,” Altman said. “They’re not going to have great games every time, it just doesn’t happen that way…We just have to keep hoping that they keep making steps because they’re four solid, good players.”
Oregon will face Toledo in game two of the Progressive Legends Classic on Friday at Matthew Knight Arena. The Rockets were picked as a No. 13 seed in ESPN’s initial Bracketology spread.
Follow Josh Schlichter on Twitter @joshschlichter