Dana Altman most often gets credited when his team finds success late in the year. It happens nearly every season, with tournament bids nearly ensuring a win or two.
Back in the NIT for a second straight year, Oregon isn't quite where it had hoped to be, but the Ducks are capitalizing on their postseason opportunity nonetheless.
Injuries have given almost every remaining available player a chance to prove themselves. That hunger is evident, and the team is playing some of its best basketball of the year with back-to-back games where the contest felt over well before the clock officially hit zero.
Good free throw shooting, good defense, and of course another great team performance meant for another dominant victory in the NIT.
Led by Nate Bittle’s career-high 21 points, Oregon proved to be too much for the visiting Knights of UCF, easily winning the second-round matchup, 68-54, Sunday.
The Ducks (21-14) move on to play Wisconsin on Tuesday night in Eugene.
"You want to compete. Central Florida's a good team, Irvine beat us and now we get a chance to play Wisconsin. For the people who came today, I really appreciate it," Altman said. "I know it's not convenient to come at 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon and we're not where we want to be -- I understand all that -- but I really appreciate those people who did come today. We've got a chance to play Wisconsin on Tuesday night at home. We don't get a chance to get Big Ten teams to come out here very often, so it will be great to have them here."
Down players again, it didn’t matter.
The Ducks, coming off a game that saw players like Tyrone Williams, Bittle, and Rivaldo Soares excel with expanded roles, had to try and replicate the same feat at home against UCF (19-15). Replicate is pretty much exactly what the team did. Despite a few hiccups, one wouldn’t have been able to tell this team was down three key players.
The same starting lineup ran out onto the court, with N'Faly Dante, Will Richardson, and Jermaine Couisnard all unable to go for the second straight game. An improved outing from deep with impressive defense throughout made for a surprisingly easy round-one victory against a UC Irvine team that beat Oregon earlier in the year.
The offense started off slow for both teams again in this one just like last game, with the first made basket coming nearly 3 minutes into the contest. But also just like round one, Oregon’s droughts ended quicker and happened far less often.
UCF couldn’t hit any shots from deep and was met with consistent traffic when trying to score closer to the hoop. Wur’s second appearance in the starting lineup has brought with it even more size and athleticism for Altman to work with.
The entire defense showed up again and played well enough to make an 0-8 Oregon start from deep a nonfactor. UCF had its largest lead of the game at 6 points with 10:09 left in the first half, but Keeshawn Barthelemy erased it single-handedly while scoring on three straight possessions,
His offensive spark jolted everyone else around him and the Knights never held the lead again.
Bittle was just 3 rebounds shy of a double-double after the first half, while a 7-0 run to close the opening period gave Oregon a 33-24 halftime lead.
UCF needed someone to step up coming back out of locker room. The Knights’ leading scorer, Taylor Hendricks, was the most likely candidate but ended the contest with just 9 points.
Nobody else on the roster found success, and a separate 8-0 Oregon run to start the second half made the comeback attempt seem even more unlikely.
"Taylor Hendricks is a really good player. There were NBA people here to see him -- leading rebounder for their team, leading scorer -- he had one field goal at half. I thought Quincy [Guerrier] really took the challenge and did a tremendous job," Altman said.
Kel'el Ware’s and-one basket and free throw pushed the lead past 20, and for a second straight game, the Ducks stifled the opposing offense consistently. UC Irvine ended up shooting 30% from the field in the previous game, while UCF didn't do much better, finishing the night at 30.6%.
With the Knights only able to get points in spurts, Oregon set the game onto cruise control.
Bad offense, good defense, or a mix of both helped Altman’s very depleted roster push on the rest of the way out with not much to worry about. It wasn’t the cleanest finish to close it out, but the end result remained the same. Oregon survived a -6 turnover ratio and kept the game from getting back into reach.
Bittle led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds, Guerrier scored 16, Ware finished with 11 and Barthelemy had 9 points and 8 assists.
"I thought [Bittle's] rebounding early really set a tone for us. I thought he really went after boards. The points are great, 13 rebounds ... 25 minutes is kind of his high for the year, and I thought he did a really good job," Altman said.
The victory sets up one final game in Matthew Knight Arena for the quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Wisconsin. One more win and the Ducks will be back in Las Vegas for the NIT semifinals.
