It wasn’t always pretty, but the Oregon men’s basketball team swept through the weekend’s BTI tournament to begin the season at 3-0.
UC Santa Barbara, Denver and North Dakota State each fell to the Ducks at McArthur Court, though two of the games came down to the final minutes.
Sunday’s matchup with UC Santa Barbara was one of them, as the Ducks narrowly edged the Gauchos 72-70.
Trailing 37-34 at halftime, Oregon continued to fight through the second half, and senior center Joevan Catron gave the Ducks the lead for good with two crucial buckets in the final two minutes.
It was a narrow miss, and head coach Dana Altman was happy to come out with a win.
“We’d have been sick if we lost this ball game,” Altman said. “Because we played well enough to put ourselves in that position … I think we would have felt really bad if we wouldn’t have been successful.”
In the end, five Oregon players had at least 10 points. Catron led the Ducks with 15 points and six rebounds, while point guard Malcolm Armstead finished with 12 points and seven assists.
On the Gauchos’ side, James Nunnally had a game-high 28 points, and Orlando Johnson chipped in with 24.
Facing off with Denver on Saturday night, the Ducks overcame a slow start to win 68-56.
The game got off to an ominous start as Teondre Williams turned the ball over on Oregon’s first possession. The Ducks took a 25-17 lead with under seven minutes remaining in the first half before Denver erupted for a 15-3 run to take a 32-28 lead going into the intermission.
“I wasn’t very happy at halftime,” Altman said to GoDucks.com. “But I was happy with their effort in the second half.”
Indeed, Oregon cleaned its act up nicely after the break, beginning with an 11-3 run to take a 39-35 lead. The teams continued to trade points until Oregon finally took the lead for good with less than eight minutes remaining.
When the final buzzer sounded, Catron led the team with 20 points and five rebounds.
Armstead added 15 points of his own, while sophomore forward E.J. Singler chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds.
After shooting 7-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, Denver made just one three pointer in the second. Oregon outscored the Pioneers 40-24 after halftime.
“We had a good second half,” Altman said to GoDucks.com. “We turned up the intensity. I was unhappy with Denver going 7-8 in their threes, but we turned that around in the second half.”
Catron heeded the advice and took it upon hiimself to lead the team in the second half.
“I didn’t like our energy at half,” Catron told GoDucks.com. “So I had to step up and make some steals and get the energy up.”
Oregon’s lack of energy in the first half on Saturday may have been partially attributed to a trying 97-92 overtime win over North Dakota State on Friday night. Tied at 84 at the end of regulation, Oregon outscored the Bison 13-8 in overtime to come away with the victory.
Oregon struggled with its shooting in the first half, making just 33% of its field goals and one of eight three-pointers. North Dakota State led 39-37 at the half.
Garrett Sim and Singler hit back to back three pointers to begin the second half, and from there the teams began to rapidly trade leads. Trailing 79-82 with 01:53 remaining, Singler hit a three-pointer to tie the game.
Catron then laid the ball in to give the Ducks a two-point lead, but the Bison drew a foul and hit both free throws to tie the game back up. Neither team scored again in regulation, leading to overtime.
Oregon weathered a 5-0 Bison run at the start of overtime and responded with a 13-3 streak of its own to close things out. Catron finished with 27 points and seven rebounds, while Singler totaled 16 points and 11 rebounds.
“It was a lot of relief and joy that the hard work paid off,” senior guard Jay-R Strowbridge said to GoDucks.com. “Our character showed, we stayed together as a team and finished the game.”
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