A quick look at the statistics sheet said everything about Oregon’s 81-71 loss at the hands of California on Thursday: It was a tale of two halves.
The Ducks dominated in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down shot after shot and going into halftime with a commanding 45-34 lead. Another victory seemed imminent until the buzzer rang to start the second half.
Cal came out with a vengeance, and Oregon was left to wonder where things went wrong.
Head coach Dana Altman saw disturbing signs early in the half.
“They start the second half with a couple rebound put-backs, and we had a couple bad turnovers that led to easy baskets,” Altman said. “And it really got their offense going.”
Indeed, the Golden Bears needed just a few scores to regain their confidence, and it would not relent for the rest of the game. Cal shot 62.5 percent after intermission, while Oregon’s shooting tailed
off entirely.
“We were rushing things on offense,” junior
forward Tyrone Nared said. “And they were turning it into points on the other end. So that killed us.”
Part of Oregon’s trouble came as a result of a switch-up on Cal’s defense. After playing man-to-man for most of the first half, the Golden Bears moved over to a zone coming out of halftime. The Ducks struggled to adjust, and it cost them.
“The zone had us spread out a bit,” Altman said. “We got it into Joevan (Catron); they would double, triple team him. We had turnovers inside … we needed to get more inside shots, but we had to be tougher with the ball, and our execution just wasn’t good.”
Indeed, Catron certainly took notice of the added pressure. Much of Oregon’s offense runs through the burly 245-pound senior, but he could not kick the ball out with so many defenders
surrounding him.
“It looked like a
quadruple-team at times,”
Catron said.
Perhaps some of the struggles also came as a result of overconfidence. The Ducks were coming off a rousing victory over Oregon State, during which it seemed as if every shot was falling. Thursday’s second half proved to be a painful return to reality.
“I think we got a little bit too comfortable tonight,” Nared said. “We shot the ball really well against Oregon State, and we kind of fell in love with the shot (Thursday). So instead of getting more inside and then pushing it back out, we were forcing a lot
of shots.”
For his part, Nared came away with a career-high 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field. As a result, he made no apologies for his own shots.
“I kept shooting because I wasn’t missing,” Nared said.
The rest of the team did not follow suit in the second half, and found little comfort in the free-throw line with just seven total attempts. For Altman, the
performance served to underscore just how fragile the team’s margin for success is.
“I’ve talked about us having a fine line that we walk all year,” Altman said. “And you saw what happened when we weren’t energized that second half. Cal just took it from us, and we got on the other side of that line.”
There will be just one day to practice before the Ducks attempt to right the ship against Stanford. A top-five finish in the Pacific-10 Conference is still very much on the line, and the team knows there is still work to do.
“Preparation starts now,”
Catron said. “It is a loss, but we have to move by and get ready Saturday starting tomorrow. Get a good night’s rest, come in and have a good sharp practice tomorrow, and get ready for those guys come 3 o’clock Saturday.”
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