Unlike the Portland win earlier in the week, Oregon basketball had no problem with an inferior opponent on Sunday afternoon in Eugene.
One day after fans had to sweat out the football's teams win over Wisconsin, the hoops squad had no problem dismantling a tough Troy team, 82-61. The Ducks are now 4-0 which means they have the best record in the Big Ten so far, tied with Wisconsin, Purdue, Penn State, and Iowa.
This game made fans feel a lot better about the team because of the depth that was on display.
This was Supreme Cook's first game with the Ducks after missing the first three due to a preseason injury and he finished with 11 points and five rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting in 14 minutes coming off the bench. He looked like he could be the legitimate missing piece to the puzzle for this Big Ten title hopeful squad.
But Cook wasn't the only bench player to score in double figures.
In fact, Keeshawn Barthelemy built off his heroic performance in that come-from-behind win over Portland and dropped 15 points with two assists on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 3-for-4 from deep in 26 minutes off the bench. He's averaging 14 points per game over the past two which followed up a zero-point showing against Montana.
Three other bench players scored at least four points as Kwame Evans Jr. had six, Mookie Cook finished with five, and Jamari Phillips scored four. Having this type of bench production is key to winning big in March.
And it's clear that Oregon has depth.
Obviously the usual contributors were solid like Nate Bittle (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks), TJ Bamba (13 points, 3 assists, 2 steals), and Brandon Angel (10 points). Unfortunately Jackson Shelstad is still struggling a bit. That will need to change if this team wants to make any noise this season.