Dana Altman’s Defense came through in a big way as Oregon Basketball picked up a 71-69 win over Seton Hall in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday night.
Entering the tournament this week, Altman told us his approach was one day at a time. While it may be November, the game and the atmosphere on Wednesday night in the Bahamas certainly had a March feel to it. Oregon was down just four at halftime, but the second half opened with an onslaught of three-pointers off a 12-0 run from Seton Hall that had Oregon down as many as 19 points.
Oregon never gave up the fight, battling with each possession. Payton Pritchard was the most experienced player on the floor for the Ducks and was pretty much taken out of the first half with two early fouls. The second half was his. He set the tone with 16 points in the game and 6 rebounds.
More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
For the first time this season, the Ducks Freshman Class did not play like a group of newcomers. CJ Walker finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds and an assist shooting 4 for 8 from the floor. Dana Altman has just nine players right now, and they all played and had points against Seton Hall.
Chandler Lawson had several key free throws down the stretch but free throws were not the only thing Oregon needed The Ducks also came through on the boards against a bigger team finishing with 39 rebounds to the Pirates 28.
Oregon Basketball shot 47 percent from the floor finishing the game with 10 assists. Both teams had 13 turnovers.
The Ducks now face a team that many have thought for a long time needs to be a rivalry in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon takes on 8th ranked Gonzaga on Thursday. The Zags are the most complete and physical team that the Ducks have faced this season, but Oregon is also building a solid postseason body of work with wins over Memphis, Houston, and Seton Hall.
This team is also putting things together faster than Altman’s teams of the more recent past.
Oregon and Gonzaga tipoff at 1 pm Pacific Time in the Battle 4 Atlantis on ESPN.