Oregon stays hot as the Ducks down UCF and advance to NIT quarterfinals

Oregon’s roster has been missing three of its best players the last two games, but it hasn’t stopped the Ducks from playing as well as they ever did at full strength.

The season remains alive for Oregon as it delivered another postseason rout Sunday, beating Central Florida 68-54 in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament in front of 3,019 at Matthew Knight Arena.

With the win, the No.1-seeded Ducks (21-14) have advanced to the quarterfinals of the 32-team tournament for the sixth time in program history and the first since 2012.

They’ll play No. 2 Wisconsin (19-14) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Matthew Knight Arena. The Badgers beat No. 3 Liberty on Sunday, 75-71.

“I’m just happy that we’re still playing,” center Nate Bittle said. ”I have a bunch of friends who play all over the country and their seasons are coming to an end and I’m just happy that we still playing, honestly.”

Oregon was again without starting center N’Faly Dante (ankle), point guard Will Richardson (hip) and guard Jermaine Couisnard (shoulder), a trio who also missed the NIT opener last Wednesday when the Ducks beats UC Irvine 84-58.

Once again, several players stepped up to fill the void, though no one did more than Bittle.

After scoring a then-career high 17 against the Anteaters on Wednesday, the sophomore had 21 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds on Sunday for his second career double-double. Bittle was 7-for-14 from the field and also had a pair of assists.

“I thought his rebound early really set a tone for us,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “I though he really went after boards. The points are great, but 13 rebounds … I thought he did a really good job.”

Quincy Guerrier had 16 points and six rebounds, Kel’el Ware had 11 points and Keeshawn Barthelemy, who started at point guard, also had nine points and eight assists.

“He’s done a really good job,” Altman said of Barthelemy. “I thought he was really locked in defensively.”

The Ducks and Knights combined to make 6-of-28 from 3-point range in the first half but Oregon countered by shooting 48.1% overall from the field as it built a 33-24 halftime lead.

Bittle had 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half to lead the Ducks in both categories.

The score was 35-26 when Oregon went on a 12-0 early run in the second half to extend its lead to 47-26 with 15:47 to play.

Bittle started the run with a pair of layups and a dish to Lök Wur for a 3-pointer.

The Knights (19-14) stayed in a double-digit deficit the rest of the game.

C.J. Kelly led UCF with 13 points and Taylor Hendricks had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Knights could never get it going from deep, finishing 5-for-30 from 3-point range while shooting 30.6% from the field overall.

Now comes Wisconsin and a chance to play a Big Ten program at home.

“It’ll be a tough game,” Altman said. “They’re a proud program, a lot of tradition, so it’ll be a tough, tough game on Tuesday night.”

Of the injured players, only Richardson is out for the season, meaning there's a chance Dante and Couisnard could be ready to play on Tuesday.

"They've been coming in two, three times a day for treatment," Altman said. "If they can play they will and if they can't, they can't."

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

Up Next

NIT quarterfinals: Oregon vs. Wisconsin

6 p.m., Tuesday at Matthew Knight Arena. TV: ESPN. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3)

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks' depleted lineup holds up again with NIT win against UCF