Ducks Play Sloppy, Win Despite Turnovers

The Nevada Wolfpack was in town for the Ducks’ final non conference game and they brought with them a hard nosed, physical defense that seemed to frustrate a young Oregon team early limiting them to 25 points on only 8-23 shooting. Tony Woods lead all scorers with 13 and added 6 boards and a trio of blocks for Oregon. Coach Altman had praise for his own defense and Center Tony Woods as they stifled the Wolfpack "I like our effort defensively. I think Tony inside with the blocks and changing a lot of shots I think [he] did some good things. I thought for a long time there we were defensively pretty sharp." The Ducks never trailed in the game en route to a 56-43 victory. The Wolfpack had 3 players in double figures, lead by Deonte Burton with 12 in a losing effort.

Both teams struggled offensively in an ugly first half with the Wolf Pack shooting 19% from the field and the Ducks committing 12 turnovers. The turnovers were a credit to a physical defensive attack from Nevada who were aggressive in the passing lanes and capitalized on Oregon mistakes. Of the 14 points Nevada tallied, 1o of them came as a direct result of Oregon turnovers. It was the lowest point output for both the Ducks and their opponent to this point in the season as they went into the break with Oregon leading 25-14. EJ Singler lead the scoring for both sides with 6 on the strength of two three pointers but did not score in the second half.

The Ducks were without the services of Arsalan Kazemi in the second half as he went out with a head injury when he and team mate Carlos Emory collided. His status is unclear for the future but both Singler and Altman described his demeanor as "Okay," after the game. The Ducks however would gather themselves and jump out with an 11-2 run that gave them a 19 point lead early in the half. "I really liked the way we started the second half, made three really good plays for each other…three assisted baskets." The Wolfpack also started to heat up in the second as they responded to the Oregon run with a run of their own, cutting their deficit to 6 at the midway point of the half. The Ducks would respond again with back to back three pointers to double their lead and regain control of the game. From that point, Nevada never got back within double figures as the Ducks eventually won by 13.Coach Altman also was pleased with the assist to basket ratio of Oregon as they tallied 14 assists on only 17 baskets.

The Ducks continue to be fraught with turnovers as they committed 20 in the game, which lead to 20 Nevada points. Coach Altman feels that the team is "not making simple plays…we’re not making good decisions [and] are making the game much more difficult than it has to be on the offensive end." EJ Singler commented after the game that he takes a lot of the blame, committing 7 of the turnovers himself. Despite that The Ducks garnered their 16^th consecutive home win which gives them the 7^th longest streak in the nation. The Ducks face off their rival in Oregon State at Gill Colesium next and EJ Singler noted, looking forward "It’s going to be a big game. They’re really good at home. We’re going to need to bring our best game to win there."

Dana Altman 12/31 (via Jake Tabor)

EJ Singler and Tony Woods 12/31 (via Jake Tabor)