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Oregon MBB Nets Third Win, Hoists Record Number of Threes

On3 imageby: Justin Hopkins9 hours ago
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The Oregon Duck at a Men's basketball game against the USC Trojans in Eugene. (Photo by: © Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images)

On Wednesday night in Eugene, the Oregon men’s basketball played its third game of the young season. Fortunately Oregon was able to outlast the mighty South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The Ducks won by a final score of 83-69.

While Oregon continues to find its groove, the Ducks have successfully navigated the first three games to a perfect record on the season. Still, questions remain about this team. After hoisting up a record number of threes in this win, 43 to be exact, Dana Altman questioned his teams physicality inside.

“No, that wasn’t the plan. I just I’m not pleased with our physicality at all. Points in the paint 26 to 18, we got beat until our last free throws. They had shot more free throws than us, until they had to foul us there late. Rebounds were basically even.

You know, some bad turnovers there in the first half that just led to easy baskets. We got a lot to work on. You know, I’m glad that we won the game and guys, you know, finished the game strong and hit some shots and we had to. But, you know, a team that, you know, if you’re scouting us right now, we went in the game shooting 20 percent from three. You know, you’re going to pack it in and not let us beat them inside. And, you know, we just kind of gave into it.

So to answer your question, I didn’t see us taking 40 threes. I think it’s most probably ever taken. You know, that’s not us. You know, fortunately, their second half we shot them okay. First half, 26%.
It really wasn’t good. But second half, we had some better looks, took a couple bad ones, but a lot of them were, you know, pretty open, had some inside-out threes and not nearly as many off the dribble.

One of the keys for growth with this team is the return of floor general Jackson Shelstad. The veteran guard returned from his late Summer injury in game two and continues to ‘shake off the rust.’

“A lot of his shots were short, but eight assists, no turnovers, three steals. You know, I thought he did a lot of good things. You know, if he had shot a little better, he’d had a great game, you know, I thought he did a lot of good things. And so, again, you know, I want him to be aggressive. He’s proven, and he goes 8 for 19, so, you know, the thing I got to press upon him, he was, you know, 4 for 6, you know, shooting inside. And he got to the free throw line a few times. So, you know, we just need to attack the basket a lot more and we need to be a lot more physical.”

Up next is a Monday in-state match with Oregon State in Eugene. The Beavers are also currently 3-0. They have won all three games by a total of 7 points in this young season.

“We’re going to have to make a lot. You know, Oregon State will be physical, and so we’re going to have to make a lot of progress between now and then. Obviously, after that, you know, things, you know, gear up because we’ll be on the road. The next four on the road or three are on the road, and then we’ve got USC at home, and then we’ve got to go to UCLA. So we won’t have the advantage of being at home all the time. So it’s going to get a lot tougher starting Monday night, and we’re going to have three hard practices to get ready for it, and hopefully we’ll be ready.”


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