Statistically speaking, the Oregon men’s basketball squad is a second-half team. Sunday afternoon, against the Portland State Vikings at McArthur Court, the trend was exemplified to the fullest as a late surge helped the men in green and yellow to a 68-49 victory.
Coming off back-to-back games against top-10, nationally ranked opponents in Duke and Missouri, Oregon headed into its matchup with Portland State with a sense of confidence and relief.
“We had a chance to be in both those games and possibly win but we didn’t execute on certain things,” senior forward Joevan Catron said.
Portland State proved to be no simple-task though, sticking close to the Ducks for the first 30 minutes of play.
“We had a ball game all the way there until the last eight or nine minutes,” head coach Dana Altman said.
After a lackluster first half the Ducks picked it up on both sides of floor, while scoring 41 points in the second half, 14 more than they managed in the first segment of play.
Led by the offense of Garrett Sim and Catron, and a solid team-wide defensive performance, the Ducks were able to pull further away as the game progressed, coasting to the 19-point win.
The Vikings scored the first bucket of the game, but that was the only lead they would hold for the remainder of the contest. After nine minutes of play the score only stood at 8-4, in favor of the Ducks. Oregon then rallied, with Malcolm Armstead hitting a three-pointer to put the Ducks up by seven.
Portland State chipped that margin down to four at a few different intervals but another three-pointer, this time from Sim, moved the lead back to seven at 18-11.
Back-to-back buckets from Catron extended the difference to 11 before a Viking three-pointer cut it back to eight. Oregon then responded when Johnathan Loyd hit a three-pointer of his own to boost the lead back to double figures.
The visiting Vikings ended the half with a short run, cutting Oregon’s advantage to 27-22.
The offense picked up for the Ducks in the second half, with several Ducks lighting up the scoreboard.
Both squads traded field goals for the first three minutes until Sim nailed his second shot from long distance to move his team ahead by eight. Again, the Vikings answered, this time with a three to make the mark 34-29 with 16 minutes left in the game.
Oregon held an eight-point advantage with thirteen minutes left in the half when things got scary for the Ducks. After a jumper from Portland State and some sloppy ball handling by the Ducks, the Vikings narrowed the lead to just three.
That would be the last made field goal of the game for Portland State.
For the next 10 minutes the visitors only scored off free throws, while the Ducks racked up 25 points to put the game out of reach.
“I wasn’t aware of (Portland State’s lack of field goals),” Catron said. “Coach just got on us at halftime about our defense assignments.”
“I think we felt a sense of urgency to pick it up and pick up our defense,” Sim added.
Catron lead all scorers with 15 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Sim added 14 and Jay-R Strowbridge chipped in 11.
After eight games, the Ducks are 5-3 on the season, a one-game improvement over last year.
“We obviously have a long way to go,” Altman said. “But we have a lot to grow into.”
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