Dana Altman addresses differences between first, second halves

While Oregon led from start to finish against California Baptist on Tuesday, it was a game that was a bit of a tale of two halves for the Ducks. Even so, Dana Altman had a very simple explanation for why that was the case against the Lancers.

Altman discussed the so-so first half compared to the more dominant second one during his postgame press conference following the 76-55 win. He noted how foul trouble was a root of the slow start because of who it took off the court. That created lineups for them that they’d never, ever used before.

“I think part of it today was the foul trouble. We just didn’t have very good rotation,” said Altman. “We had a couple combinations out there that we haven’t had, even in practice.”

“When both bigs get two fouls? And then Jermaine (Couisnard), who’d been playing well for us, had the two fouls? It kind of took us out of what we wanted to do,” said Altman.

Oregon committed a dozen of their 20 total fouls on the night in the first half. That included three on Jadrian Tracey, two apiece on three starters in Couisnard, Kwame Evans Jr., and Mahamadou Diawara, and another pair on Keeshawn Barthelemy. With N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle both sidelined already, this only further shortened Altman’s roster.

By the end of the half, they were holding on to just a five-point lead at the break.

However, the second half was much cleaner from Oregon across the board. As a team, they shot better than 50% from the field, 60% from three, and 90% from the charity stripe. That led to a blowout over the course of the half. The Ducks held a double-digit margin essentially throughout and led by as much as 22.

Those extra minutes from the reserves led to a season-best game from Kario Oquendo off the pine. He had his best outing of his nine games as a Duck with 20 points on 7-12 (58.3%) shooting with a pair of made threes. That gave Oregon a significant edge in bench scoring and, as such, a boost in the game considering what they needed from their reserves.

Sometimes, over the course of the season, you need to get creative in order to find a lineup that’ll work, especially if fouls are a factor. Altman and the Ducks were able to overcome exactly that in order to secure their seventh win of the season.

“Our second half was better but we had a little better rotations out there,” said Altman.