The Oregon men’s basketball team just couldn’t get any action Tuesday night.
The Ducks lost 84-80 to Athletes in Action, a touring basketball team composed of former college players, in front of 7,428 fans at McArthur Court.
Oregon couldn’t contain what Oregon guard Freddie Jones called the “crafty veterans” of the AIA team.
“These guys have played a lot of basketball,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “We knew coming into this game that this team was going to make us think.”
AIA certainly made the Ducks think all game, especially in the first half. The Athletes jumped out to an early 11-2 lead as Oregon committed five fouls in the first six minutes. The Ducks’ defense, which Kent had pointed to as an area that the team needed to work on, looked like Swiss cheese at times as the AIA veterans slashed and drew foul after foul.
But midway through the first frame, the defense toughened up and Jones started creating plays on offense. At the 10:41 mark of the first half, the guard stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast for a reverse dunk that got the fans at Mac Court out of their seats for the first time. After an AIA time-out, Jones took a pass from Bryan Bracey and laid it in to bring the Ducks within four points.
“I was just trying to make a play,” said Jones, who played all 40 minutes.
Despite Jones’ efforts, the situation at halftime favored the Athletes in Action. The Athletes took a 48-39 lead into the half and had some impressive numbers to go with the lead, including 17-for-30 shooting and 6-for-10 from three-point land. The Ducks went into halftime shooting 1 of 7 from beyond the three-point arc and 15-for-26 overall.
The hero of the second half was undoubtedly freshman point guard Luke Ridnour. With 10 minutes left in the game and the Ducks trailing 63-52, Ridnour rattled off 11 points in less than two minutes to cut the deficit to 66-63.
Freshman James Davis then added a three-pointer of his own to knot the score at 66 with exactly eight minutes left.
But the Athletes were persistent throughout the second half, and were able to stay always one step ahead of Oregon.
AIA made 11 of 14 free throws down the stretch, including seven of their last eight, to stave off the Ducks, 84-80.
The Ducks’ reactions to the loss were mixed.
“We should have beat those guys,” Ridnour said. “Mentally, we didn’t get it done.”
Kent compared Tuesday’s exhibition to Oregon’s first match with the Basketball Travelers last Monday.
“The Basketball Travelers didn’t force you to think defensively, you could play them straight up,” Kent said. “Tonight we faced a smart team.”
Bracey was actually “glad” the Ducks lost.
“This was a test for us, as far as our chemistry, to see if we can bounce back,” Bracey said.
Oregon will try to do just that against Mississippi Valley State Friday in their regular-season opener at Mac Court.