By Morris Phillips
The Oregon Ducks don’t have a center or frontline size typical of Power 5 teams. They also don’t have a traditional point guard. And they came into Thursday’s contest with Cal lacking continuity as their previous game against UCLA was canceled due to COVID concerns.
What they do have is loads of talent directed by record-setting coach Dana Altman, which makes them a problem, an assessment with which the Bears would certainly agree.
The Ducks afforded Cal some open looks early which translated into one seven-point lead in the first half and a four-point lead early in the second half. But that was it, after Cal’s second lead the No. 21 Ducks responded in a big way while coasting to a 82-69 win.
“I thought the first half we played really confidently and we competed well throughout the night,” Bears coach Mark Fox said. ”In the second half, we just had a drought. We put so much pressure on our defense.”
Matt Bradley returned to the Cal lineup after missing two games and put up an efficient 21 points to pace his team. But as the game progressed Oregon’s defense did too, eventually shutting down Bradley and others while forcing a slew of turnovers, with nine of Cal’s 17 giveaways after halftime.
Eugene Omoruyi was the central figure in discombobulating Cal with five steals to go with a game-best 26 points. Despite being listed at 6’6″, Omoruyi was dominant inside, setting up shop near the baseline and attacking Cal at the basket relentlessly, so much so Cal’s 7-foot center Lars Thiemann fouled out in just 18 minutes of floor time.
“I thought Eugene did a lot of good things and the five steals – his activity there was really good,” said head coach Dana Altman. “He was really unstoppable inside.”
Without size or an offensive catalyst, the Ducks rely on their defense to create a bunch of good things. That took place Thursday, it just took basically a half to materialize which may have been due to the Ducks’ unusually long 11-day layoff.
Over the final 12:45, Oregon stretched their narrow lead to 13 while limiting Cal to 20 points.
The Ducks won for the 27th consecutive time at Matthew Knight Arena, and beat Cal for the eight consecutive time dating back to February 2016. Altman kept his name moving up the all-time wins list for coaches with his 676th in 31 plus seasons at the Division I level. Next up in 22nd place with 677 wins, Altman will equal former Cal coach Mike Montgomery.
The Bears (5-5, 0-3) next play at Oregon State on Saturday, a team they’ve already lost to this season in early December. The Bears have a ceiling to break through with conference losses to Arizona State, UCLA and Oregon along with the loss to OSU that doesn’t count in the Pac-12 standings.
