Sitting next to E.J. Singler in the pressroom late Thursday night, Jay-R Strowbridge shook his head silently. Singler was busy explaining things to reporters, but Strowbridge’s solemn expression was far more telling.
It was as if he was thinking, “We were so close.”
The Ducks fell just short against No. 9 Missouri at McArthur Court by a score of 83-80.
After a dismal first half in which Oregon shot just 23.3 percent from the field, the team came alive in the second half and almost pulled off a shocking upset.
“I thought we did a really good job in the second half playing as a team,” Singler said. “But we fell short, and at the end of the day, it’s a win-loss (scenario), and we came out with a loss.”
In the early moments of the game, it looked as though Missouri would run away with another blowout win over the Ducks. The Tigers scored the first seven points of the game, and the Ducks never led in the first half. By halftime, the Ducks trailed 44-24 and most of the air had been sucked out of the crowd.
“(I’m) disappointed with the way we approached the game,” head coach Dana Altman said. “That’s as much my fault as it is the guys’. It’s my job to have them ready to play, and that’s the second game we’ve come out really tight.”
With 12 turnovers and just three assists, the outlook appeared grim for Oregon. Yet, as the second half began, the Ducks slowly began to creep back into the mix. A hot start turned into a 15-6 run, and the Missouri lead was suddenly cut to eight.
The improvement was perhaps spurred in part by Altman’s halftime speech.
“I told them how disappointed we were,” Altman said. “We didn’t compete.”
The Ducks certainly competed in the second half, and Missouri’s lead continued to shrink. With 9:15 left in the game, Singler hit a jumper that brought Oregon within five. Though Missouri quickly responded, Oregon simply would not go away, and with 4:27 remaining, junior guard Malcolm Armstead hit a three-pointer to bring Oregon back within five.
At this point, the crowd was roaring, and Altman certainly noticed.
“The crowd was great,” Altman said. “Students stayed with us, didn’t give up on us. We really appreciate it.”
Yet even with McArthur Court rocking like the old days, the Ducks simply did not have the firepower to eclipse Missouri. Consecutive three-pointers in the final 20 seconds by freshman guard Johnathan Loyd brought the score to 82-80, and Oregon was forced to foul.
Missouri guard Matt Pressey hit the first free throw but fell short on the second, giving Oregon one final shot. With no timeouts remaining, Loyd sprinted up the court and heaved a desperation shot from half court. The ball fell well short of the rim, and the comeback was foiled.
In the end, Singler led Oregon with 19 points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Joevan Catron finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds, while Loyd and Strowbridge also scored 15.
For Missouri, guard Marcus Denmon led the way with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Forward Kim English had 12 points, and center Ricardo Ratliffe finished with 11.
The Ducks shot 62.1 percent in the second half after a woeful first-half performance, but for Strowbridge, it wasn’t good enough.
“(We need to) play with that same passion and sense of urgency that we played in the second half for the whole game,” Strowbridge said. “Because the game is 40 minutes, and obviously we’d be able to play with anybody in the country and win.”
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