PORTLAND — Well, um, uh… at least no one was injured.
If there is such a thing as a bad win, this was it. In the end, though, it was a win and, apparently, that’s all that matters.
But there’s little to feel good about if you’re the No. 22 Ducks, who needed a full 40 minutes to hold off lowly Portland State, 69-63, Wednesday night in front of 5,443 at Memorial Coliseum.
But…
“A win is a win,” Oregon forward Luke Jackson said.
That doesn’t mean it was easy to watch, unless you’re a fan of the underdog. Oregon, simply, was colder than the ice rink sitting just below the Memorial Coliseum hardwood. The Ducks were again outmatched on the boards, 29-27, and their 69 points were the third-lowest total of the season, the most in a win.
And, as laughable as it seems, the Ducks made Portland State (3-13 overall) look like Duke at times.
“These games are always tough for us against Portland and Portland State,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “They do a good job of gearing up for us.”
As hard as they try, the Ducks (11-4 overall, 1-3 Pacific-10 Conference) just can’t seem to find the touch that led them to the Pac-10 title last season. After consecutive blowout losses to California and Stanford last weekend, Oregon was hoping to gain some momentum against the Vikings on Wednesday in preparation for Oregon State on Saturday. But the Ducks left the Rose City not feeling any better about their effort.
“Every team goes through this, it’s just a matter of when you bounce back,” Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour said. “I couldn’t tell you what we gotta do, but it’s something. We just gotta get it done.”
It may be hard for the average fan, but Kent remains positive about his team.
“We got Luke Jackson back on his game, and I was pleased with that,” Kent said. “We got Ian Crosswhite back on his game, and I was really, really pleased with that. We got through the game with no injuries.”
Anything else?
“The key thing is we’re 10-1 in the preseason and that ties the best record in the conference with Arizona for the best record in the preseason,” Kent added. “We got 11 wins overall, and that’s as many as anybody in the Pac-10. And that’s all we need to look at right now.
“We need to move on, get home and regroup and get ready for just a ferocious Civil War game on Saturday.”
Jackson, especially with the game on the line, did get over his Bay Area struggles. He led the Ducks with 21 points — 13 in the second half — and eight rebounds.
Crosswhite, after a horrid five-game slump, was near-perfect in the first half with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting; he finished with 17 points. Ridnour added 15. No one else scored more
than eight.
“It felt exceptionally good,” Crosswhite said. “I finally got some shots to go in.”
After a 16-4 run midway through the first half, the Ducks led 25-12. But Jeb Ivey hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Vikings with seven, 40-33, at halftime.
And Portland State kept that momentum throughout the second half. The Vikings cut the lead to 46-44 when Seth Scott hit a lay-in and was fouled.
“They came after us, that’s for sure,” Ridnour said. “They came out with a lot of energy and we didn’t match that.”
But the Ducks were able to keep the Vikings within arm’s length. Jay Anderson’s rebound putback with 8:50 left gave Oregon a 58-46 lead, its largest of the second half. Scott hit a pair of free throws with 1:17 to play to pull the Viks within five, but the Ducks ate the clock in the final minute to secure the win.
“Players try to show us up,” Jackson said. “They think they have something to prove against the bigger players on our team — it’s kind of a personal thing. And that’s hard to match, but we’re learning. We feel good about this win. We played a little sloppy, but we can learn from this game.”
“This team still has a long way to go to be where we need to be,” Ridnour said. “The Pac-10’s a whole ‘nother level.”