Sitting court side for Monday night’s matchup between No. 15 Oregon (6-0) and Fresno State (5-1) were two of the school’s premiere basketball alumni and current Indiana Pacers: Joseph Young and Paul George.
During an intermission, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year was handed the microphone as all of Matthew Knight Arena erupted in a standing ovation.
It was the highlight of the night.
Unfortunately for Young and George, who were stopping by before their Wednesday game against the Clippers, Monday night’s game between two undefeated teams just wasn’t nearly as entertaining, clean as it was anticipated to be — one Oregon escaped with a 78-73 win.
“Poor decision making,” Dana Altman said. “We made too many bad mistakes.”
Oregon, who was coming off a dominant performance against Arkansas State, coughed up the ball 17 times (season-high) in its sloppiest game of the year, while Fresno State, who was eyeing its first 6-0 start since 2006, failed to have a pulse on offense, shooting 40.6 percent for the game.
In the first half, Oregon held Fresno State to just 25 points.
In the final six minutes though, the Bulldogs stringed together a 21-8 run that kept them in the game.
“Definitely was not a good second half defensively,” Altman said.
Long story short, turnovers dictated lackadaisical outings for both teams.
Lazy passes handcuffed the Ducks, who shot 43.6 percent from the field, while the Bulldogs, who coughed up the ball 18 times struggled to get high percentage looks all game.
Most of the Bulldogs’ buckets came on offensive boards (15) and in transition.
Oregon, who tallied four players in double figures, did just enough to get the job done offensively, but it was largely bailed out by its defense. Through the first six games, it’s been the Ducks’ fallback.
Dillon Brooks (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Elgin Cook (14 points, seven rebounds) who had good outings again, helped lead the Ducks offensively down the stretch.
“You have to have somebody make some plays and he did down the stretch,” Altman said of Brooks.
Through the first six games, Altman’s limited roster has satisfied its bottom line: to win games with defense and rebounding. It’s earned them a top 15 ranking after entering the season as the first team out.
But judging by this game and a few others, complacency and inconsistency on both ends of the floor that have allowed opposing teams to creep back into games late are two main areas that Altman and his team will have to focus on moving forward.
“I’d like to finish games stronger,” Altman said. “(This is) the third time now that we’ve had a double-digit lead and let the game come back.”
While Dylan Ennis (foot) and Jordan Bell (foot) battle back from injury, Altman will need all nine of his scholarship players to play at a much higher level, especially on the road.
“Just so-so,” Altman graded Oregon’s six-game home stand. “Competitively, I thought we did good things, we found some ways to finish some games off. We’ve got a lot of things to work on, but we definitely have made progress.”
Oregon will face 6-1 UNLV this Friday. Coverage starts at 8 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN 2.
Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim