Overshadowed by some other game in some other sport, the Oregon men’s basketball team quietly opened its season Friday with a win.
The Ducks demonstrated signs of early season sluggishness at times — and signs of perfection at others — in their 85-70 victory against Mississippi Valley State.
The visiting Delta Devils gave the 7,664 fans in attendance at McArthur Court an early scare, when they battled the Ducks hoop-for-hoop and only trailed 40-35 at the half.
“For some reason, things just weren’t going our way and we didn’t have a big enough lead,” said senior forward Bryan Bracey, who recorded his first career double-double with 22 points and a personal best 12 rebounds. “So we were really excited to get out there in the second half and throw a press on them and get after them.”
The second session began with MVSU’s Henry Jordan draining a jumper to cut the margin to 40-37, but then Oregon’s Julius Hicks took charge.
Hicks went in strong to the hoop and banked one in.
Then, he rebounded a Freddie Jones miss and tipped it in, while getting fouled in the process by Jordan for a three-point play.
On the other end of the floor, he made his presence felt by sending a Dewayne Jefferson shot attempt into the fifth row of the student section.
And, just for good measure, Hicks received a pass from Bracey and converted the bucket to extend the Duck lead to 47-39 with 18:02 to play.
“Tonight, we really came out wanting to be intense,” said the senior center, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Then, as if they were on a relay track team, Hicks seemed to pass the baton to teammate Anthony Norwood, who put the game away. Norwood continued the Oregon run by connecting a three-pointer to up the margin to 11.
On the very next play, freshman point guard Luke Ridnour stole the ball in the backcourt and dished to Norwood, who streaked in for the two-hand dunk. After a MVSU timeout, Norwood continued his dominance by draining three more of his 15 points with just under 16 minutes left.
The Ducks’ dominating 21-4 run was capped on a Bracey bucket that gave Oregon the 61-39 advantage.
“I thought it was a really good opening game for us,” head coach Ernie Kent said. “I was really pleased with my veteran players — particularly Bryan, Freddie, Julius and Norwood. I was pleased with how hard they played.”
Jones had a positive first step toward his goal of being the team’s go-to guy with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists. But he was more concerned with his poor 3-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe and the team’s 25 turnovers.
“Everybody knows in their heart that they weren’t playing to their potential,” Jones said. “We just have to go back to the drawing board and get better.”
Oregon takes its 1-0 record on the road for the first time this season after playing two exhibition games and the opener at home. The Ducks will face Denver this Tuesday.
“The biggest thing right now is to just win games,” Kent said.