By Morris Phillips

What the Cal Bears were doing on the defensive end of the floor spelled critical Pac-12 road win, but what the team was doing on the offensive end just didn’t read quite right.

A narrow 68-65 loss in Eugene to the Oregon Ducks, came down to missed 10 missed free throws, 18 turnovers, and a mind-bending absence of even one made 3-point basket. A tad more or less in one of those categories could have given Cal (12-4, 2-1) an eye-catching 3-0 start in conference play and dropped the Ducks to 0-2.

Defensively, the Bears were just off their numbers in the now-concluded five-game streak of allowing 65 or less (68 against the Ducks), and below 40 percent shooting (the Ducks shot 40.7) suggesting they could have pulled this one out with one or two more stops.

But it didn’t happen. Now the Bears and Couch Cuonzo Martin have to make sure the next time they have a chance to win a close one on the road, they do.

“We had some key breakdowns late,” Martin said. “They made three key threes that I remember. They won the battle for 50-50 loose ball for the most part. We had a couple of key breakdowns that kind of turned the game around.”

“We didn’t hit shots. Still, we had every chance to in the world to win this game,” Jaylen Brown said.

Brown led Cal with 20 points, and Ivan Rabb was just as active with 17. But the overall offense did translate on the tree-adorned floor. The turnovers were either clumsy or confounding, and Cal didn’t show much variety in their attack. They got to the basket throughout, and battled on the offensive glass, but they missed the free throws when the driving to the basket put them on the foul line. And the jump shots that everyone knows are key to Cal winning were rarely taken or made.

“I don’t think anyone took a tough three with guys hanging all over them. I don’t think that was the case by any stretch. I mean, 0 for 12 from three—that’s part of the game. Anytime, (Jordan) Mathews shoots, I think the ball’s going in.”

Oregon’s defense wasn’t bad either. It masked the even-more damaging 13 missed free throws the Ducks had, and kept the Pac-12’s best three man, Mathews, scoreless. The Cal junior lit up Matthew Knight arena as a freshman, scoring 32, which still stands as his career-best. But he couldn’t buy a basket Wednesday, missing all eight shots he took.

But Cal’s D was even better, and Coach Dana Altman was proud his guys didn’t get discouraged or back down.

“We didn’t play well offensively, but we kept competing, we kept battling, and our guys found a way,” Altman said.

Chris Boucher led Oregon (12-3, 1-1) with 18, Tyler Dorsey added 17. Boucher, Dorsey and Dwyane Benjamin had big 3-pointers for the Ducks in the final eight minutes. Dorsey’s came with 58 seconds remaining, and put Oregon up 63-57. While Cal couldn’t buy a three, Oregon hit seven, despite ranking next to last in the conference in 3-point shooting at 32 percent coming in.

Boucher also had a steal and blocked Mathew’s shot in the final 5:22 when Oregon ever-so-slightly increased their 52-50 lead.

The Bears return to class in Berkeley on Thursday and Friday, then fly back for a meeting with Oregon State on Saturday night. The Beavers have a win over Oregon, but lost to Stanford on Wednesday.

NOTES: The Ducks overcame the loss of Dylan Ennis, their presumptive starting point guard who will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury after missing the first 12 games and playing only 21 minutes in two games. Freshman Trevor Manuel announced this week that he’s transferring, leaving the Ducks with just nine, healthy scholarship players. The teams meet again in Berkeley on February 11. The Bears were picked to finish second, and the Ducks third in a Pac-12 pre-season poll.