Oregon Ducks men's basketball looks to bounce back at Maui Invitational
By the time Oregon tips off against Chaminade Monday night to open its Maui Invitational run, it will have had almost a full week to stew on its most lopsided loss in three years.
In the days between games, coach Dana Altman vowed there would be some self-reflection and “hard practices” as a result of the 81-49 men’s basketball defeat BYU handed the No. 12 Ducks last Tuesday at Moda Center in Portland.
Related: No. 12 Oregon Ducks men's basketball falls flat against BYU in 81-49 loss
“Getting beat by 30 points, that shouldn’t happen to our program,” Altman said in the aftermath of the game against the Cougars. “I’m totally embarrassed that I allowed this.”
They’ll certainly need to play better this week if the Ducks (2-1) want to advance to the championship game in the eight-team, three-day tournament being played this season at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, a move necessitated by Hawaii’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions.
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Also on Oregon’s side of the bracket are Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame. The other half of the bracket is No. 15 Houston, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and Butler. There are consolation rounds so each team is guaranteed to play three games.
Altman said he needs the veterans on his team — specifically starters Will Richardson, Jacob Young, De’Vion Harmon, Quincy Guerrier and Eric Williams Jr. — to lead by example and get the Ducks refocused after a game in which nothing went right as they were outshot (59.6%-32.1%), outrebounded (34-25) and outscored in the paint (42-28), on the fast break (9-1) and off turnovers (21-5).
“Collectively they’ve got to do a good job,” Altman said. “They’ve got to make sure they handle themselves well. The leadership has to come from the guys who have been there and done that. Will and Eric haven’t been beat like this. De’Vion hasn’t. Quincy hasn’t. I doubt Jacob has. The five guys we’re expecting a lot from, we’ll see how they respond.”
That group played well in the first two games of the season when Oregon beat Texas Southern and SMU by a combined 40 points despite transfers Young, Harmon and Guerrier being all in their first season as Ducks.
Related: No. 13 Oregon Ducks open men's basketball season with rout of Texas Southern
Altman said that initial success might have given the team a false sense of security.
“I knew we’d have some growing pains,” he said. “Didn’t know they’d be like this. We got a little comfortable with ourselves after a couple performances where we did move the ball pretty well and made some shots, but we definitely didn’t have that energy (against BYU) and missed some shots early and then we tried to do it individually, which never works and sure didn’t work (Tuesday).”
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
Maui Invitational
At Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas
Monday's games
Tuesday's games
Wednesday's games
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks men's basketball looks to bounce back at Maui Invitational
