Welcome to early November college basketball.
It’s not going to be a work of art a lot of the time, but the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team won’t argue with the results.
In the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas, the Ducks managed to defeat Georgia 82-71.
Senior center N’Faly Dante led the way with a monster game of 16 points and 21 rebounds and guard Brennan Rigsby added 16 points and six rebounds.
Jermaine Couisnard scored 16 points and Nate Bittle just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
That was the good.
Now for the not-so-good.
Oregon had a 20-point lead midway through the second half only to let Georgia cut that lead to just eight with less than two minutes to go.
The Bulldogs started to hit from distance, but more importantly, ( or disappointing ) they were allowed to get back into the game thanks to some sub-par shooting from the free throw line.
The term “sub-par” might be generous.
Oregon was just 15-of-29 from the charity stripe and an even worse 8-of-21 in the second half when it counted most.
The Ducks’ game plan, which they worked to near perfection, was to attack the basket and utilize their height advantage. They were able to build up their lead to 17 points at 28-11 with 8:18 left, but an 11-0 Georgia run brought the Bulldogs back.
Oregon still managed a 40-30 halftime lead and maintained that double-digit advantage throughout the second half until the latter stages of the contest.
It was a good non-conference win for the Ducks as they will have to play much of the early schedule without freshmen Jackson Shelstad and Mookie Cook.
Both are expected to be a major part of this team. Shelstad is a point guard and a two-time Oregon state Player-of-the-Year and Cook is a McDonald’s All-American at small forward.
If the first game is any indication, Oregon will be a tough matchup for most opponents, especially on the inside with Dante and Bittle, who both seem to be primed to have big years.
Rigsby, who is expected to come off the bench, might have earned some more playing time with this first game. The shooting guard was hurt a lot last year and his game suffered for it. But Rigsby is healthy and he showed what he is capable of on both sides of the floor.
Oregon is back at it on Friday as the Ducks host Montana at Matthew Night Arena at 6 pm on the Pac-12 Network.
( GAME HIGHLIGHTS )