Oregon’s offense showed up in its first exhibition game on Sunday night.
It showed up to play.
It was a run-and-gun, fast-paced 40 minutes where the Ducks outscored their opponent, MBC Nikolaev of Ukraine, 96-76. Oregon changed it up quite a bit with consistent substitutions and varying lineups throughout the night.
“If we would have kept the right group on the floor, we could have probably scored 125 or 130 points the way we were clicking in the second half,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
The Ducks scored 20 points less in the second half than they did in the first. However, they shot 60.9 percent from the field. On the evening, Oregon shot 54.4 percent, but it still isn’t good enough.
“We probably could have shot 70 percent,” Kent said. “Just because of some substitutions we made in the first half where we lost a great lead and great momentum in the game. If the right lineup is on the floor, we probably could have shot a much higher percentage and I think that’s pretty impressive.”
The right lineup is still to be determined for Oregon. The starting lineup for the Ducks featured guards Andre Joseph and Aaron Brooks, forwards Luke Jackson and Ian Crosswhite and center Mitch Platt.
Jackson earned a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jackson played 22 minutes and went 8 of 14 from the field. All of this came after suffering an injury to his toe last week and missing last week’s scrimmage due to a funeral.
“There was a lot of positives tonight on offense,” Jackson said. “It would have been nice to execute a little bit more offensively, but we’re so fast we didn’t get to set up very much.”
That was the theme of the evening for the Ducks. The 8,666 at McArthur Court got to see a dose of the speed the Ducks possess.
“We’re definitely capable of running and gunning just like we did tonight,” Jackson said. “Obviously when you play a little bit tougher team, we’re not going to get as many transition buckets.”
Oregon’s perimeter game came together in the second half. The Ducks went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in the last 20 minutes. They shot 4 for 12 in the first half.
Davis was 1 for 6 from the three-point line in his 16 minutes while earning 12 points. He was also given minimal playing time, as was Jackson, after injuring his ankle in last week’s scrimmage.
“James and Luke both probably could’ve scored a lot more points,” Kent said. “I wanted to make sure we didn’t push those guys too much. We did limit them, taking into consideration neither one of them have really practiced at full speed in terms of the intensity defensively and offensively.”
Even with the minor injuries — which also included guard Jordan Kent and center Matt Short — Oregon played all-around solid offense.
But the tone has been set. Oregon is fast and it plays fast. Even the big guys recognize it.
“We’re definitely going to run, we’re a running team,” Crosswhite said.
With the ability to speed up or slow down the game and set up the offense, Oregon proved they can play at any tempo. And this was just the first game. The Ducks still have plenty more to show off.
Just wait one week.