Tuesday, November 4
Eugene, Ore.
7:00 PM
University of Oregon
vs
Northwest Christian (EX.)
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
New-look Oregon Men Race To Exhibition Victory, 101-69
11/05/14 | Men's Basketball
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Oregon men's basketball team kicked off its 2014-15 season with an exhibition victory over Northwest Christian on Tuesday night before 5,775 fans at Matthew Knight Arena, 101-69.
How It Happened: The Beacons, coached by all-time UO great Luke Jackson, scored the night's first basket, but Oregon answered with a 15-0 run and retained the lead throughout. This was the first look at an Oregon men's team with impressive athleticism, but lacking in size and experience; the starting lineup included veterans Joseph Young and Elgin Cook with newcomers Ahmaad Rorie, Dwayne Benjamin and Dillon Brooks, none taller than 6-foot-7. All eight healthy scholarship players had appeared by the first media timeout of the first half, and veteran walk-on Theo Friedman also got into the game for four minutes in the first half. The final few minutes of each half featured breakdowns by the Ducks that made for a back-and-forth pace, but by then the lead was more than comfortable.
Who Stood Out: Young led the Ducks with 27 points, not unexpected after he averaged nearly 19 points per game last season. But the senior also had a team-high seven assists, against one turnover. Cook added 20 points and eight rebounds, making 8-of-13 field goals on a night the Ducks shot 60.3 percent as a team. Benjamin did a little of everything, scoring nine points, matching Cook's team-best eight rebounds, blocking two shots and even leading the break on offense a few times. High-flying freshman Jordan Bell led the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds, also blocking two shots.
What It Means: After a tumultuous offseason marked by several player departures, the Ducks got down to the business of playing basketball, and looked very impressive in spurts. Against a team that didn't present a size mismatch, Oregon took care of business on the glass by winning the battle of the boards, 45-20. The ballhandling was inconsistent, as the UO men turned it over 14 times, with tougher defensive matchups looming on the horizon.
Odds and Ends: Injured post Michael Chandler (knee) has yet to practice this season and was not in uniform Tuesday night. ... The Ducks added five walk-ons to the roster after an open tryout. Senior Tim Jensen, 6-6, played the final minute of the first half and entered late in the second half. He was joined by Anthony Piganelli and Hayden Coppedge in the game's final two minutes. .. Austin Kuemper, who transferred to Northwest Christian from Oregon, led the Beacons with 19 points.
Quotable: "It's a start," UO coach Dana Altman said. "We had a lot of new faces out there. I thought overall the guys had a purpose to what they were doing; obviously we made a lot of mistakes on the defensive end. But I figured that. We've been making a lot of mistakes in practice on the defensive end. ... We do have an athletic team, fairly quick. We've just got a tremendous amount of work to do ? more so on the defensive end, I think , than the offensive end."
Up Next: The Ducks finish up their exhibition schedule Sunday against Western Oregon at 6 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena.
Editor, GoDucks.com
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Oregon men's basketball team kicked off its 2014-15 season with an exhibition victory over Northwest Christian on Tuesday night before 5,775 fans at Matthew Knight Arena, 101-69.
How It Happened: The Beacons, coached by all-time UO great Luke Jackson, scored the night's first basket, but Oregon answered with a 15-0 run and retained the lead throughout. This was the first look at an Oregon men's team with impressive athleticism, but lacking in size and experience; the starting lineup included veterans Joseph Young and Elgin Cook with newcomers Ahmaad Rorie, Dwayne Benjamin and Dillon Brooks, none taller than 6-foot-7. All eight healthy scholarship players had appeared by the first media timeout of the first half, and veteran walk-on Theo Friedman also got into the game for four minutes in the first half. The final few minutes of each half featured breakdowns by the Ducks that made for a back-and-forth pace, but by then the lead was more than comfortable.
Who Stood Out: Young led the Ducks with 27 points, not unexpected after he averaged nearly 19 points per game last season. But the senior also had a team-high seven assists, against one turnover. Cook added 20 points and eight rebounds, making 8-of-13 field goals on a night the Ducks shot 60.3 percent as a team. Benjamin did a little of everything, scoring nine points, matching Cook's team-best eight rebounds, blocking two shots and even leading the break on offense a few times. High-flying freshman Jordan Bell led the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds, also blocking two shots.
What It Means: After a tumultuous offseason marked by several player departures, the Ducks got down to the business of playing basketball, and looked very impressive in spurts. Against a team that didn't present a size mismatch, Oregon took care of business on the glass by winning the battle of the boards, 45-20. The ballhandling was inconsistent, as the UO men turned it over 14 times, with tougher defensive matchups looming on the horizon.
Odds and Ends: Injured post Michael Chandler (knee) has yet to practice this season and was not in uniform Tuesday night. ... The Ducks added five walk-ons to the roster after an open tryout. Senior Tim Jensen, 6-6, played the final minute of the first half and entered late in the second half. He was joined by Anthony Piganelli and Hayden Coppedge in the game's final two minutes. .. Austin Kuemper, who transferred to Northwest Christian from Oregon, led the Beacons with 19 points.
Quotable: "It's a start," UO coach Dana Altman said. "We had a lot of new faces out there. I thought overall the guys had a purpose to what they were doing; obviously we made a lot of mistakes on the defensive end. But I figured that. We've been making a lot of mistakes in practice on the defensive end. ... We do have an athletic team, fairly quick. We've just got a tremendous amount of work to do ? more so on the defensive end, I think , than the offensive end."
Up Next: The Ducks finish up their exhibition schedule Sunday against Western Oregon at 6 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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