The Oregon men’s basketball team dropped its second game in less than a week Wednesday, falling 78-73 to the St. Mary’s Gaels in front of a sparse crowd of 7,163 at McArthur Court.
The Ducks trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second half but battled back to within two as junior guard Tajuan Porter heated up late. His three pointer from the right wing with just less than two minutes remaining cut the Gael lead to 70-68. Porter led the Ducks with 16 points while adding five rebounds and three assists.
A tip-in by Diamon Simpson put St. Mary’s up 72-68 with 1:18 left. Simpson was big on the boards for the Gaels, notching 18 rebounds to go with 16 points.
A Porter 15-foot jumper from the left baseline 12 seconds later closed it back to two at 72-70.
St. Mary’s guard Patrick Mills, the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, missed the second of two free throws on the Gaels’ next possession, but center Omar Samhan grabbed the offensive rebound and two free throws from guard Carlin Hughes pushed the lead back to five at 75-70.
The Ducks would get no closer. After the game, Porter and head coach Ernie Kent would point to that offensive rebound as one of several mental breakdowns by the young Ducks in the last few minutes that kept them from coming back to win the game.
“We fought back and we played great defense. We were still right there,” Porter said. “A couple of times we were right there and then we’d have a mental breakdown and they’d make us pay.”
Oregon (5-7) trailed from the start, falling behind 9-1 in the first minute. The Ducks would battle back to tie the game at 17-17 midway through the first half and would lead St. Mary’s (8-1) with 6:34 remaining.
Duck foul trouble and Gaels’ free throws down the stretch of the first half put St. Mary’s back on top 42-35 at the break.
“We just don’t come out with enough passion,” said sophomore guard Kamyron Brown. “We start out a little lackadaisical.”
Kent couldn’t put his finger on this team’s seeming penchant for falling behind early.
“I don’t know, I’m just happy they responded,” Kent said of the slow start. “I was proud of the way our guys battled.”
Brown said that despite the slow starts and the latest defeats the team is still confident.
“We’re together, our heads are still up,” he said. “We know we’ve got to fix these things and then we can win games like this.”
Next up for Oregon is University of Portland at McArthur Court Dec. 20 and Long Beach State at Mac Court Dec. 29.