Your Oregon Ducks opened up the regular season in a matchup with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Tuesday night. Hawaii got out to a quick start, capitalizing on four Oregon turnovers in the first five minutes of the game, and taking an early 9-6 lead. The Ducks would hit a few shots back-to-back to take an 11-9 lead, but Hawaii would continue to fight, eventually taking a 21-20 lead with eight minutes left in the half. Oregon’s defense decided to come alive after that, with a few consecutive stops
leading to some quick, easy points on the other end of the floor, and the Ducks would take a 33-26 lead into the half, despite an abysmal 13 turnovers, and shooting just 2-9 from three.
The 2nd half was much the same as the first, with the Rainbow Warriors jumping out to start the half, cutting the Oregon lead down to 36-35 after just four minutes. But then Sean Stewart took over the game a little bit, with six quick points in about three minutes. Followed by Nate Bittle getting in on the action for a quick four points of his own in about 30 seconds, and all of a sudden Oregon had built a 50-36 lead with 11 minutes to play. But Hawaii would not go away quietly. After getting a quick three in transition after Kwame Evans Jr. went down, leaving the Ducks shorthanded, the Rainbow Warriors would rattle off a run of their own, tying the game at 50 with 7:53 left in the game.
The rest of the game was a very back-and-forth affair. Oregon would take the lead, then Hawaii would tie it, and then take the lead. And then it would be Oregon’s turn to tie it again, and so on, until Hawaii took a one-point lead at 59-58 with 1:34 remaining. Oregon would have four separate chances on their last possession of the game to make a basket, before Takai Simpkins would finally lay the ball in with 4.2 seconds left in the game, giving the Ducks a 60-59 lead. Hawaii would go on to miss their final attempt of the game, sealing the victory for Oregon.
Ooooh boy what an ugly win. Oregon ended the game shooting just 36% from the floor, 12.5% from three, an absolutely disgusting 61.5% from the foul line, all while turning the ball over a whopping 21 times. But they were able to get some key stops, and corralled 17 offensive rebounds off of their 37 misses. And most importantly, they came out on top. Takai Simpkins lead the way offensively with 18 points on 7-12 from the floor (and hitting the game winner), while Bittle and Evans held down the defensive end of the floor with a combined 6 blocks (4 for Bittle, 2 for Evans), with Evans also grabbing 2 steals before he went down midway through the 2nd half.
This team needs Jackson Shelstad back in the worst possible way. Yes, there’s a ton of new faces on the roster, and it will take a while for everyone to gel together. But what this team needs more than anything is a reliable point guard to lead the offense and make the right plays. And that’s what Shelstad will bring when he returns from injury. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
As always, ‘Sco Ducks.
