Benjamin Returns As Oregon Men Beat Concordia, 94-63

Wednesday, December 3

Eugene, Ore.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

5-2

Concordia (Ore.)

Concordia

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Benjamin Returns As Oregon Men Beat Concordia, 94-63

12/04/14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon men's basketball team used its superior athleticism — provided in part by Dwayne Benjamin in his return to action — to overcome an off night shooting from three-point range in a 94-63 victory over Concordia of the NAIA before 4,909 in Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday.

How It Happened: The Ducks (5-2) were at their best when attacking the basket, shooting 1-of-16 from three-point range in the first half, but 20-of-29 from inside the arc to build a 47-26 halftime lead. Concordia kept it close for a few minutes, scoring to get within 10-6, but soon enough it was 22-9, and later 32-14 as the outcome was never in doubt despite some inconsistent play by Oregon. The Ducks improved their shooting after halftime, making 21-of-35 from the floor and 4-of-10 three pointers to finish the night shooting .525 overall and overcome 16 turnovers.

Who Stood Out: Benjamin returned from a two-game absence and was one of five scorers in double figures, with 11 points and six rebounds. Joseph Young scored 20 points to hit that mark for the fifth time in seven games, and he added eight rebounds with six assists. Freshman Dillon Brooks finished with his second straight double-double, 14 points and 11 rebounds, and classmate Jordan Bell also had his second in a row, with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots. Junior Elgin Cook had 19 points and eight rebounds, avoiding the foul trouble that had plagued him in the past 10 days. Freshman point guards Casey Benson and Ahmaad Rorie combined for 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Quotable: "I don't think we were playing as a team at first. We were kind of forcing up threes, and we should have been taking it to the rack and playing inside-out. If we'd done that we would have been a lot more successful early." — Rorie

"Coach told us at halftime to share the ball and make plays for our teammates, and we really tried to do that in the second half." — Benson

"(Benjamin) practiced yesterday, said he was ready to go. I thought he was a little rusty with a few of his turnovers, but I thought he did some good things." — UO coach Dana Altman

"We went into the game with some things we wanted to work on, and I'm not sure we got them accomplished. … We've got to understand we've got some (tough) ballgames coming up, starting with Mississippi on Sunday. Our offensive execution isn't where it needs to be." — Altman

What It Means: The return of Benjamin gets the Ducks back to their full complement of players as of the season's start; that doesn't include post Michael Chandler, who has yet to play with a knee injury. The level of execution against Concordia wasn't always inspiring, but the Ducks held the Cavaliers to .355 shooting and had a 60-30 advantage on the boards, taking advantage of their big edge in athleticism and skill. That said, Altman's concern about overall execution and team play is legitimate entering a stretch of games against much better competition, including Mississippi and Illinois.

Odds and Ends: Walk-on point guard Max Heller, a junior transfer who played three years ago at Arizona State and last season at Loyola Marymount, has been declared eligible for this season and could contribute a few minutes off the bench going forward, Altman said. … Since a 6-of-8 three-point shooting performance in the season opener, Young is 8-of-47 since. "Any time a shooter's in a slump, he's got to pick and choose and get back on track with shots he really likes," Altman said. … Bell missed several minutes in the second half due to receive stitches for a cut on him arm, and returned late in the game sporting a clean jersey, No. 54. ... Oregon's 60 rebounds were the program's most since Jan. 14, 1999, against Washington State.

Up Next: The Ducks host Mississippi on Sunday in Matthew Knight Arena (1 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1), what sets up as Oregon's premier matchup of the nonconference season.