SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The game ended on an emphatic Freddie Jones dunk, a two-handed monster slam that was more of a message to Wake Forest, Oregon’s second-round opponent, than to Montana, Oregon’s first-round foe.
But that dunk was hardly indicative of the Ducks’ afternoon.
After a sluggish start and finish that was far from high-flying, the Oregon men’s basketball team simply outmatched Montana on their way to an 81-62 win Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks looked nervous and spoke of the NCAA Tournament “jitters” after the game.
“I was nervous,” Oregon junior forward Robert Johnson said. “It was my first time being here.”
If that late Jones dunk was representative of the game’s end, there were a handful of plays that represented Oregon’s sluggish start. Duck center Chris Christoffersen fumbled the basketball out of bounds on two consecutive possessions to start the game, then forward Luke Jackson had the ball stripped out of bounds to Montana. Jones scored Oregon’s first basket, a three-pointer, almost three minutes into the contest.
“We know we did not play a good basketball game,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “Part of it was the first-game jitters, and being here for the first time for most of these guys.”
After a Luke Ridnour layin made the score 5-2 in favor of Oregon, the Ducks went six minutes without a field goal, a drought that was capped by another Ridnour layup with 10:40 left in the first half. The Ducks missed several shots during that period, but hit three free throws to keep the score tied at eight at the end of the drought.
Oregon never seemed to find a rhythm in the first half of Thursday’s game.
The Ducks scored only four fast-break points, all on layins by Ridnour.
Oregon shot well in the first half, but the Ducks simply didn’t take many shots. Oregon hit 50 percent of its field goals in the first half, but took just 20 shots, compared to Montana’s 29. The Grizzlies shot just 37.9 percent in the first frame.
The only reason the Ducks led 34-26 at halftime was because of their free-throw shooting. Oregon went to the line 18 times, compared to Montana’s five trips, and the Ducks made 10 of those charity shots.
“They were more funny than getting in my head,” Johnson said.
Johnson shook the pesky chants and ended the game with a career-high 15 points.
In the second half, Oregon picked up the pace and simultaneously widened the score. In contrast to the first half, the Ducks opened the second frame with a layin by Johnson and a thundering dunk from Christoffersen. The Ducks improved their shooting to 53.8 percent in the second half and once again dominated the free-throw line, taking 22 charity shots to Montana’s 10.
For the Ducks, the key to winning was in the defense.
“We might not have played as sharp as we could have offensively, but we were still playing well on defense,” Jackson said.
Afterwards, the Ducks said they were simply happy to advance to the second round, instead of suffering the same fate of favorites like Gonzaga, Marquette, USC and Oklahoma State.
“We didn’t come out and get in the flow like we should have,” Ridnour said. “We know we have to play better on Saturday, but the important thing is that we get to play on Saturday.”
Jackson echoed Ridnour’s
sentiments.
“The important thing is that we got the win,” Jackson said.
Oregon will play Wake Forest in the Round of 32 on Saturday.