After Oregon opened 2016 with a 13-point loss to in-state rival Oregon State, head coach Dana Altman said the Ducks needed to “get good quick.”
Consider Sunday’s performance a firm validation of where the Ducks have gotten in just one week.
Thanks to a 19-9 run to close the first half, an unrelenting defense and a near triple double from Dillon Brooks, Oregon concluded its brief home stint with its second consecutive win Sunday — this time over Stanford, 71-58.
“Losing to Oregon State, losing to our rival, gets us more pumped up to play harder,” said Brooks, who followed up a 2-for-10 performance against Cal Wednesday with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. “It just fired us up more.”
It clearly was one of the more complete efforts from Oregon this season. But, like the Ducks’ 77-71 win on Wednesday, it certainly wasn’t pretty at times. Oregon committed 15 turnovers, six of which came in the first 10 minutes, and struggled to make baskets while the Cardinal built an early lead.
However, that narrative quickly changed and the Ducks, due in large part to its dominance on the glass, gained a four-point halftime advantage.
Then, the pace picked up and Stanford, a group that had just beaten Oregon State Thursday, was left reeling.
“The second chance points were the difference in the game,” said Altman, who’s group out-rebounded the Cardinal 38-22. Jordan Bell led the Ducks in that department, finishing with 10.
“The rebounding was the difference, I liked our effort there.”
But it wasn’t just the rebounding. The Ducks assisted on 11 of their 14 made baskets in the second half and finished with 36 points in the paint as well as 16 second chance points. The group also shot 16-of-22 from the free throw line.
Tyler Dorsey, who scored 17 against Cal Wednesday, finished with 12 points and four rebounds. Casey Benson added three three-pointers to finish with nine. The performances are obviously key, considering the announcement Wednesday that Dylan Ennis, a graduate transfer from Villanova who averaged 9.9 points per game last year, will miss the remainder of the season.
“They just got to step up,” Altman said. “We’ve been playing quite a while without Dylan so I don’t think it’s too much of a difference for them.”
The back-to-back home wins are particular essential for Oregon considering the top-to-bottom strength the Pac-12 has this year. Eight Pac-12 teams are currently in the top 50 of the RPI and the conference looks even more wide open after preseason favorite Arizona announced that its top scorer Allonzo Trier will miss up to six weeks after breaking his right hand in the Wildcats’ loss to USC Saturday night.
“You look at the league and the games and the closeness of the games, I think our league is really balanced,” Altman said. “Our depth is so much better… I think it’s going to be a lot of grinding and a lot of close games.”
It’s exactly what it has been three games in. Stanford was a team that Altman said “concerned” Oregon coming in. The Cardinal had an impressive overtime win over Utah and out-rebounded Oregon State by 17 on its way to a 78-72 win before heading to Eugene.
But, Stanford shot just 38 percent from the field Sunday and finished with only 16 points in the paint.
“Defending was a big key for us,” Benson said. 
Just a week ago, Oregon, as Brooks admitted after Sunday’s game, “got their butts kicked.” But a step was taken in the Ducks’ subsequent home contests and it has Altman excited for the possibilities.
“We’re here at Jan. 10 and there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Altman said. “There’s a lot of things that we could do so much better. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t make some steps here.”
Oregon will hit the road to play at Colorado and Utah next weekend.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise