Oregon breaks away from D II Western Oregon 88-60
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) What looked to be a dress rehearsal for the start of Pac-12 Conference play turned into a performance that was not quite Broadway quality for Oregon on Tuesday night.
It also might be that way for a while until the Ducks get their roles squared away.
''Until then, we're going to be a work in progress,'' coach Dana Altman said after Tyler Dorsey scored a season-high 25 points and Elgin Cook had 19 as Oregon finished nonconference play with an 88-60 victory over Western Oregon.
Dillon Brooks added 13 points for the Ducks (11-2), who needed a 20-5 run to take control early in the second half after the Wolves (9-1) had tied the score at 40-40. Cook had 11 points during the run.
''I didn't think we were very sharp,'' Altman said. ''We jumped on them early and then we just got real casual.
''I'm a little disappointed in the way that we played, but late we did a lot of good things, got it into Elgin and just kind of wore them down.''
Alex Roth led Western Oregon, a Division II team, with 13 points. Jordan Wiley and Andy Avgi each had 11.
Oregon finished the game on another 20-5 run to match its largest margin of victory of the season. Jordan Bell had nine rebounds and five blocks as the Ducks dominated inside with a 49-26 rebounding edge and a 52-20 margin in points in the paint.
With the return of senior guard Dylan Ennis, a graduate transfer from Villanova, from a preseason foot injury, Altman has his full complement of healthy scholarship players for the first time.
The trick now, he said, is finding the right blends after mixing and matching lineups because of injuries to several other players over the first dozen games.
''We probably will determine roles throughout the month of January,'' Altman said. ''If it was an exact science, it would be a lot easier, but you're dealing with personalities and trying to get everybody to blend together, and that's a big part of being a team.''
Oregon made seven of its first eight shots from the floor to open an 18-4 lead and pushed that to 32-13 midway through the first half.
That's when the Wolves heated up from 3-point range. Led by Wiley's three 3s, the Ducks found themselves on the short end of a 23-8 run to end the half with only a 40-36 lead.
''For a long time there they played hard and played harder than we did,'' Altman said. ''They average 83 points a game, so you let a team like that back in and you're going to have your hands full.''
Oregon shot 57.1 percent and had a 24-11 rebounding edge in the first half but missed half of its 10 free throws and saw Western Oregon score 12 points off eight Duck turnovers.
Dorsey, along with Cook, made the big difference in the second half with 14 points. The freshman also had eight rebounds and five assists.
''We were relaxing and slacking on defense,'' Dorsey said. ''We didn't come in prepared and even though it's Western Oregon, we didn't come in with the right mentality.''
TIP-INS
Western Oregon: Senior guard Jordan Wiley made his 96th consecutive start, every game of his career, for the Wolves. . Western Oregon, which is ranked third in the Division II coaches top 25, returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday with a 2-0 record.
Oregon: The Ducks shot a season-high 59.3 percent (32 of 54) for the game. They lead the Pac-12 in steals with 8.3 per game and finished with eight. Freshman guard Kendall Small had four. . Oregon also leads the Pac-12 in turnover margin but had 18 to the Wolves' 14.
EASING ENNIS BACK
Dylan Ennis, who missed his only two shots and was scoreless in his Oregon debut, was limited to 10 minutes of playing time after shedding the walking boot he wore for more than eight weeks. Altman said he's going to be careful with the Villanova graduate transfer, who averaged 9.9 points in 36 games for the Wildcats last season and was projected to be the Ducks' starting point guard before he was hurt. ... ''We'll slowly build (his playing time) back up, but you can't rush that,'' Altman said. ''Once he gets back full speed, he'll give us a big boost.''
UP NEXT
Western Oregon plays at Central Washington on Thursday.
Oregon opens Pac-12 play at Oregon State on Sunday.
On Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 8:25 PM, Taylor, Kevin KTaylor(at)ap.org wrote:
Edited copy back to you, Ron. Minor tweaks. Nice notes on Jordan Wiley and W. Oregon ranking.
Tyler Dorsey scored a season-high 25 points and Elgin Cook had 19 as Oregon finished nonconference play with an 88-60 victory over Western Oregon on Tuesday night.
Dylan Brooks added 13 points for the Ducks (11-2), who needed a 20-5 run to take control early in the second half after the Wolves (9-1) had tied the score at 40-40. Cook had 11 points during the run.
Alex Roth led Western Oregon, a Division II team, with 13 points. Jordan Wiley and Andy Avgi each had 11.
Oregon finished the game on another 20-5 run to match its largest margin of victory of the season. Jordan Bell had nine rebounds and five blocks as the Ducks dominated inside with a 49-26 rebounding edge and a 52-20 margin in points in the paint.
Oregon made seven of its first eight shots from the floor to open an 18-4 lead and pushed that to 32-13 midway through the first half.
That's when the Wolves heated up from 3-point range. Led by Wiley's three 3s, the Ducks found themselves on the short end of a 23-8 run to end the half with only a 40-36 lead.
Oregon shot 57.1 percent and had a 24-11 rebounding edge but missed half of its 10 free throws and saw Western Oregon score 12 points off eight Duck turnovers by the half.
TIP-INS
Western Oregon: Senior guard Jordan Wiley made his 96th consecutive start, every game of his career, for the Wolves. . Western Oregon, which is ranked third in the Division II coaches top 25, returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday with a 2-0 record.
Oregon: The Ducks shot a season-high 59.3 percent (32 of 54) for the game. They lead the Pac-12 in steals with 8.3 per game and finished with eight. Freshman guard Kendall Small had four. . Oregon also leads the Pac-12 in turnover margin but had 18 to the Wolves' 14.
UP NEXT
Western Oregon plays at Central Washington on Thursday.
Oregon opens Pac-12 play at Oregon State on Sunday.
