When Takai Simpkins’ tough layup went in to give Oregon the lead with four seconds to play, it did not appear like a team that just turned the ball over 21 times; a program record since 2016.
From the opening tipoff the Ducks (1-0) looked lost, pressured heavily by the Rainbow Warriors (0-1) who immediately started the game double teaming Nate Bittle and stripping the ball. This was the story of the night for Oregon, but it still managed to pull off a nailbiter win 60-59.
The Ducks struggled with turnovers in their first official game of the season, recording 21 turnovers against the Rainbow Warriors, turning the ball over in 29.2% of their possessions. The Ducks haven’t recorded 21 or more turnovers since 2016 in an overtime thriller against the University of Tennessee which the Ducks won 69-65.
“The 21 turnovers, we just didn’t give ourselves opportunities,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said in a post game press conference. “It started right from the start, 12-13 turnovers [in the] first half and they doubled Nate the first time the double was coming. Just turned it over. To get confidence, you got to get your face down and you got to play hard.”
Guard Wei Lin recorded 4 turnovers, tied with Ege Demir for most on the team. Lin has been the primary ball handler for Oregon since his debut in an exhibition game against Utah, but played limited minutes in the second half following his poor ball handling in the first half.
“He’s having a hard time, he’s only been here a month,” Altman said about Lin. “He’ll be fine. He’s just he’s got a long way to go. It’s a learning process, it’s a different game then what he’s used to playing and obviously he struggled tonight.”
The bulk of Oregon’s turnovers came off of steals as Rainbow Warriors finished the game with 12. Hawaii looked like they were an elite defense against the Ducks despite only averaging 3.5 steals a game last season with their highest in a game being seven.
The offense battled down low, scoring most of their points in the paint and scoring 16 second chance points. It was this physicality down low that edged out the win for Oregon despite all the turnovers.
Hawaii guard Dre Bullock led the team in steals with five and most of his steals came early in the first half which gave the Rainbow Warriors the momentum they needed to stay in the game. Hawaii scored 23 of its 59 points off of turnovers, most of which came off of those early forced turnovers in the first half.
This isn’t to say that the Ducks were unable to force turnovers themselves, as they ended up forcing 18 turnovers for Hawaii as well. Oregon was less successful scoring of those turnovers however, scoring only 13 points off of turnovers and scored only four points on the fastbreak.
“We’re not pushing the ball and then when we did, we turned it over,” Altman said. “We got to make a lot better decisions in transition, obviously our ball handling by everyone, Drew (Carter) was the only one who didn’t have a turnover. Everybody else found a way to cough the ball up so we got a lot of work to do.”
Even though Oregon picked up the win, this performance showed that the offense is not where it needs to be, especially with the absence of junior point guard Jackson Shelstad.
“I’m actually disappointed where we’re at on November 4,” Altman said. “We’re very fortunate to win the game.”
The Ducks take on the Rice University Owls on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. PST at Matthew Knight Arena with TV coverage on Big Ten plus.
