Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted November 5 EUGENE, Ore. – They may have been without two quality veterans from last season, but the Oregon men's basketball team showed Monday it will feature a quantity of capable options in 2024-25. Kwame Evans Jr. scored 23 points to lead six Ducks who finished with at least eight points in a 91-76 victory Monday over UC Riverside at Matthew Knight Arena. The UO men opened the season without their two leaders from the memorable 2023-24 postseason run, N'Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard, but the Ducks' depth looks much improved over a year ago. "We made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of them are correctable," UO coach Dana Altman said. "We've just got to get everybody on the same page — offensively, defensively, get better connected. And that should happen, if you've got guys that really want to be part of the team and make things happen." Newcomer Brandon Angel scored 17 points in his UO debut, and Nate Bittle had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in his return from an injury marred 2023-24 season. Transfer TJ Bamba scored 12 points, Jackson Shelstad added nine points and Jadrian Tracey scored eight. "Everybody can score on this team," Shelstad said. "I think our chemistry's looking really good." How It Happened: Oregon's balance was on display from the outset. Evans scored 12 points in the first half, while Bamba, Angel and Bittle added nine each. Evans scored eight in the first five minutes, including a three-point play to give Oregon an early 11-9 lead. "When he plays hard, he's really talented," Altman said. "… When he's active and on those toes and going hard, he's pretty good." UC Riverside was up 28-26 when the Ducks took the lead for good. Bamba scored the first and last baskets of a 10-0 run for Oregon, with Angel completing a three-point play and Shelstad hitting a three-pointer in between. It was 40-34 when the UO men mounted another run, scoring nine straight on the way to a 51-36 halftime lead. Mookie Cook came off the bench to help spark that run with his defensive intensity. It was 53-38 early in the second half when UC Riverside used a 12-4 spurt to cut the UO lead to seven. Bittle scored to end that run, on a night he finished with a double-double after appearing in just five games last season. "Nate's really made a good jump," Altman said. "He's in a really good place here. He's listening, takes criticism, tries to turn it around. He just needs to keep playing hard." With Oregon up 75-68, the Ducks scored eight straight to regain some cushion. Another six straight in the waning minutes gave the UO men their biggest lead of the night, 91-73, before UC Riverside closed the night's scoring with a three-pointer. Up Next: The Ducks host Montana on Friday (7 p.m., Big Ten Network). 1 3 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 2 Share Posted November 5 Great start, and DA says the same thing after every game since he's been at Oregon. It's a huge disappointment that Dante wasn't allowed to stay. But this year's Ducks can go deep in March Madness. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDuck Moderator No. 3 Share Posted November 5 Jackson Shelstad and Brandon Angel reflect on season-opening win 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUCKED No. 4 Share Posted November 5 Glad to see that Bittle is back…….and healthy. He’s a big who can stretch the floor, something the Ducks haven’t had recently. This could be a breakout year for him, IF he can avoid injury. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Duck No. 5 Share Posted November 5 I'm very excited for our hoopsters this season! It could definitely be an exciting and successful season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 6 Share Posted November 5 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 7 Share Posted November 5 The new floor of MKA is a bit too much of the Apple Green for my taste, but I understand how they went away from all the brown. Great to see Bittle moving so fluidly, and the graphics they had up of how experienced this team is...whew! It like what Dan did in the portal for football... 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted November 5 Go You CBB Ducks! Recap: Oregon MBB Wins Season Opener - On3 WWW.ON3.COM In their first game of the 24-25 season, the Ducks had a strong showing in the final 30 minutes of the game to win 91-76 over UC Riverside. GRIND THE GRIZZ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Rosa Duck No. 9 Share Posted November 5 Foolish me. I went to turn on the game last night, could not find it and then noticed it was not on B1G but B1G+. I missed that when it was announced. First mistake this year. $90 per year, another cost that will please my bookkeeper (wife). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 10 Share Posted November 5 On 11/5/2024 at 10:23 AM, Charles Fischer said: The new floor of MKA is a bit too much of the Apple Green for my taste, but I understand how they went away from all the brown. Great to see Bittle moving so fluidly, and the graphics they had up of how experienced this team is...whew! It like what Dan did in the portal for football... Yeah, I was thinking if it was darker green I would think it would be a big improvement, right now it sort of has a baby puke kind of feel, that sounds awful, but to me it's still an improvement on the brown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayDuckDad Moderator No. 11 Share Posted November 5 Not sure if it was just how things appear on TV, but Bittle looks like he has put on 10-15# and is more rock stable in the key. Anyone else get that impression? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
