With both teams lined up in their respective spots, the referee in the middle threw the ball up and Oregon’s 2015 basketball season was underway.
Oregon’s Chris Boucher lost the opening tip as Jackson State brought the ball up the court on the game’s first possession.
That was the only thing the Ducks lost the rest of the game.
Tyler Dorsey led Oregon with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in his Ducks debut and Oregon cruised to a 80-52 win over Jackson State.
“It was great,” Dorsey said. “We came out with a lot of intensity… Everybody was excited and as a team, I think, the team, overall we did pretty good.”
Dwayne Benjamin and Elgin Cook helped show off Oregon’s depth, and two finished with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Boucher added 10 points.
Dillon Brooks, Oregon’s leading scorer through the two preseason games, finished the game with nine points on 2-of-5 shooting, not even attempting a shot in the first half.
“We know everybody on the team can score so versatility makes us harder to guard if you have to guard all five guys,” Benjamin said. “We just want to go out there and make plays for each other.”
Dorsey came out hot for Oregon. He scored eight of the Ducks’ first 11 points to give Oregon an 11-2 lead three and a half minutes into the game. He also assisted on the only other made basket during that run, a three-pointer by Boucher.
“Amazing,” was Benjamin’s response when asked about Dorsey’s debut. “He was in the right spots and we know he’s going to make the plays if we just get him into the right spots… he did that tonight.”
Up 20-11 at the 11:15 mark in the first half, Oregon went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take its biggest lead of the half. Five different Ducks players made baskets in during the run, finished off by two Benjamin free throws.
The Ducks came out firing to start the second half. Oregon went on a 16-3 run over the first 5:15 to take a 62-35 lead.
For the game, Oregon shot 49 percent (25-for-51) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from beyond the arc while holding Jackson State to 31.7 percent (19-for-60) from the field and 20 percent (4-for-20) from three-point territory. The Ducks committed 16 turnovers as Brooks had four while Dorsey and Cook each had three.
The highlight of the game came when Benjamin sunk a shot from three-quarters of the court as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“I knew it was good as soon as it came off my hands but I didn’t know it would go in that good,” Benjamin said. “That’s the best shot I’ve ever made in my life.”
 
Rebounding is going to be key in the Ducks’ next game if they’re going to pull out the upset against No. 22 Baylor. According to Altman, Baylor might be the best rebounding team in the country and that could mean trouble for the Ducks, a team that out rebounded Jackson State 38-33.
“We’re not ready for that — I’ll just be real honest,” Altman said when asked about facing Baylor on Monday. “We’re going to have a couple of days here to get focused in on it but it will be a big challenge for us.”
The Oregon-Baylor matchup can be seen live on ESPN2 when the teams tipoff at 8:30 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
“If we play the way coach wants us to play and execute what he wants, we can be really good,” Dorsey said.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka