Head coach Kelly Graves was far from pleased at what he had seen. The Ducks were ambushed by 16 Bronco three-pointers in Oregon’s (4-1) loss to Santa Clara (3-1) Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
When asked what his team could improve on in practice following Saturday’s demolition, Graves was as straightforward as could be. “Everything, you watched the game,” Graves said. “It was offense, defense, special teams, coaching, and playing. It was everything.”
Although fairly unchallenged by their early season opponents, Oregon looked listless as the Broncos stretched the floor early and often in Saturdays matinee
Santa Clara proved to be a heat check of sorts for an Oregon squad that looked outmatched throughout. Both on the interior and by stretching the court, the Broncos dominated the Ducks. Early in the first quarter of play the Broncos had made seven threes, Oregon had just six baskets.
The three point barrage would continue as the Broncos led by 19 at the end of the first quarter. Although Oregon’s offense began to settle in as the half went on, its defense continued to struggle to limit the Santa Clara shooting attack.
“I’ve never seen a team shoot like that, certainly not against us,” Graves said.
The Broncos shooting prowess would continue to no avail for the Ducks. At the halfway point in the second quarter the Broncos were shooting an outlandish 11-14 from three. Conversely Oregon’s offense struggled to generate any kind of rhythm.
“We didn’t get to the line, we’ve been averaging about 25 free throws a night, we got there four times tonight.” Graves said. “We continued our poor shooting from three, they took all of the made threes tonight”.
The Ducks, despite a large height advantage, struggled in the paint. Center Phillipina Kyei finished with just two points on 0-3 shooting.
“We got nothing around the rim,” Graves said. “Everything was contested, we weren’t on balance, we didn’t play well and didn’t coach well.”
The Matthew Knight Arena Public Address announcer couldn’t help but laugh when announcing each Bronco made three-pointer, it was an absurd display of shooting by Santa Clara.
Graves’ squad continued to struggle offensively, although the Ducks began to hit a few threes, Oregon was sloppy throughout, tallying seven turnovers and trailing by 25 at the half.
Switching sides of the court did little to bother Santa Clara who continued to torch the nets, by the end of the third quarter the Broncos had tallied a ludicrous 74 points against a previously stout Oregon defense.
“We knew they were going to pick and pop all night long,” Graves said. “If we aren’t all in, and playing well, we just don’t have the kind of team that can make up for that kind of poor play.”
Led by Tess Heal, Santa Clara had four players finish with 15 points or more, Oregon’s top scorer Chance Gray had just 11 total.
Although Oregon’s bench got to see some extended minutes late, the Ducks effort throughout was lackluster. “Tonight and against UCONN in the elite eight 2017, those are the worst two defeats I have ever experienced as a coach.” Graves said. “Hats off to Santa Clara, they played great, they earned it, they deserved it.”
The Ducks will look to rebound from their first loss of the season as Oregon goes on a three game road trip beginning Nov. 21 against Nevada.
“We’ve got to get our minds right,” Graves said. “We have tomorrow off, and then we have one day to prepare for Nevada, we leave Monday night, and prepare another good team on the road Tuesday, we’ve got to figure it out.”
