The Oregon men’s basketball team opened the 2011-12 season with an 82-75 win over Grand Canyon University in an exhibition game Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4297&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205326794&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
The Ducks overcame a sluggish first half offensively to hold off the Division II Pacific West Conference opponent thanks to a big second half from junior forward E.J. Singler and a dominant first outing from junior center Tony Woods.@@http://www.thepacwest.com/landing/index@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3748530&Q_SEASON=2011@@
Such a narrow margin of victory was certainly unexpected, and left head coach Dana Altman disappointed with several aspects of Oregon’s opening performance.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204936844@@
“We didn’t have the defensive intensity that I would’ve liked,” Altman said. “We did a nice job rebounding the first half, (but in the) second half they outrebounded us by 10, so those are stats that are concerning.”
Singler scored just two points in the opening 20 minutes, but gave the Ducks a major spark in the second half with a pair of three-pointers late in the game to hold off the potential upset. The Medford native finished with 16 points and five rebounds, and Woods added 16 of his own to go along with six rebounds and three blocks.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=235&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205326794@@
Woods’ 10 first-half points were one of very few bright spots for the Ducks in the opening half. The 6-foot-11 Wake Forest transfer showed flashes of toughness in the paint, Altman said, which he anticipates will be a key mismatch for the Ducks moving forward.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205185549&Q_SEASON=2011@@
“He’s going to be hard for people to guard,” Altman said. “And if he gets some confidence in his offense and we get him just a little bit more skillful with his jump hooks and his feet a little better around the basket, Tony Woods has a chance to be really good.”
Oregon’s defensive effort was sharp in the paint at times, with senior Tyrone Nared recording five of Oregon’s 13 team blocks while also chipping in a team-high 11 rebounds, seven of the defensive sort.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204965537&Q_SEASON=2011@@
On offense, Oregon improved its shooting to 43.8 percent in the second half and ended the game with a 34.8 percent shooting clip, just ahead of Grand Canyon’s 33.8 percent.@@I can’t figure out where he got the shooting percentage from@@
“We shot better threes in the second half but still not good enough,” Singler said, who finished 2-of-6 from beyond the arc. “We’ve got to let the game come to us and those threes will come in time.”
The Ducks took a seven-point lead into halftime despite making just 26 percent of their shots from the floor (9-of-34) and turning the ball over 11 times. A 21-of-27 shooting clip from the free-throw line helped erase a 0-for-10 showing from behind the three-point line.
True freshmen Jabari Brown and Brett Kingma struggled to find their rhythm early on, shooting a combined 1-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from deep in the first half. However, Woods and fellow junior Carlos Emory were efficient on the inside with a combined 19 first-half points and contributed to a forceful interior defense that blocked eight shots in the opening 20 minutes of play.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205185544&Q_SEASON=2011@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205185498&Q_SEASON=2011@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4295&SPID=235&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205185541&Q_SEASON=2011@@
Brown finished with 10 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line, but went 2-of-12 from the floor and committed a team-high six turnovers.
“He took bad shots,” Altman said. “He forced some things, he wanted to show everybody he can score and he took 12 shots and a lot of them weren’t good … He’s gonna have to watch the film and make a lot of adjustments.”
Oregon will look to make several adjustments as a team before they play a second exhibition game at home on Sunday against Lewis & Clark at 3 p.m.
Oregon holds off Grand Canyon University in sloppy debut
Daily Emerald
November 1, 2011
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