Oregon MBB Recap: Ducks fall to UC Irvine, suffering one of Dana Altman’s worst losses in Eugene
That’s probably not how the Oregon Ducks thought this one was going to play out when scheduling the UC Irving Anteaters for an early-November game.
The final score read 69-56 on the scoreboard, but some late-game shot-making helped save this one from looking as bad as it should have. It was one of the worst losses that Oregon has suffered at home to start a season since their loss to Texas Southern in 2018. The number on Friday night further underlined a message that came across in the Ducks’ first game of the season last Monday — this team is far from their ceiling right now.
That’s not a rare occurrence for Dana Altman teams in November. With a handful of new additions and the unfortunate injury luck that has plagued this team over the past couple of months, it’s understandable why they are playing at this level. However, they are going to need to turn things around quickly, as No. 3 ranked Houston comes to town in just over a week.
If you didn’t make it through the entire game on Friday, I can’t say I blame you. Here’s everything you need to know about the defeat.
Final Score: UC Irvine 69, Oregon 56
Keys to the game
Don’t worry, Dana Altman teams in November tend to look like this, at least at the beginning of games. Oregon was slow to start, making just 1 of their first 8 field goals, and going 0-for-4 from 3FG in the first 8 minutes of the game. On top of that, they had 6 turnovers in the first 8 minutes as well.
Things obviously did not get better for the Ducks as the game went on. In fact, they got worse. Oregon was unable to find their shot from downtown, going 4-for-21 from 3FG on the night. They also coughed the ball up 15 times, giving UCI 25 points off of turnover.
Will Richardson’s tough start to the season continues. The veteran PG again struggled on Friday, scoring just 4 points on 1-of-6. While N’Faly Dante is playing well, it’s been a bit of a shock to see Richardson in a slump to start the season.
While the Ducks struggled to shoot, UC Irvine was definitely hot. They finished the game going 12-for-28 from deep, outscoring the Ducks by TK points in that facet of the game.
Stats to Know
The Ducks shot just 3-20 from 3FG on Friday. On the season, they are now 10-for-46 (21%) from deep on the season.
Oregon turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 25 points for UCI. Contrarily, the Ducks got just 10 points off of Irvine’s 10 turnovers.
Oregon went 18-for-28 from the free-throw line in this game. On the season, they are now 34-for-56 (60%)
The Ducks had 9 blocks in this game, which was one of the lone bright spots. On the season, they have 14 total blocks.
What's Next?
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
The Ducks will host Montana State on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
