Dana Altman answers for Oregon's second-half defensive struggles

While Oregon ultimately eked out a six-point home win over UC Riverside on Wednesday evening, head coach Dana Altman wasn’t pleased with the defensive effort down the stretch. With fewer than 10 minutes remaining, the Ducks were inching toward a 20-point lead.

Instead a potential blowout was close for comfort down the stretch until Oregon won, 71-65. Altman knows that sort of breakdown is sustainable.

“But again, you’re up 17 with eight, nine minutes to go, you gotta take care of the ball,” Altman said.

Other than the late-game lackadaisical play letting the opponent whittle down a lead, Altman was pleased with how his team settled in. After giving up a quick three-pointer early before really being locked in, the Ducks were flying around.

“The three we gave up on the inbounds play, it was the only basket they scored for a long time. We we’re just not ready to play and gave up a wide open three,” Altman said. “But no, I thought our energy was good, we were flying around — newer guys were. That definitely was where we go our separation.”

Altman also opened up about meager attendance on Wednesday

Altman didn’t sugarcoat his feelings about the paltry attendance for Oregon’s win over UC Riverside on Wednesday, but he was reticent to just blame fans for not showing up. Mostly, he seemed to want to find a solution to the problem of a dead arena.

Unfortunately for Altman, the root cause isn’t entirely certain, though there’s a number of factors. Injuries have slowed down the Ducks and Oregon is 6-5 at this point in the season. The game on Wednesday came during winter break, meaning students weren’t on campus. Altman himself noted he’s not much of a rah-rah guy or a draw himself.

“You know, our guys are battling. Our records not what we want it to be. I’ve been here a long time, they’re tired of me. So, I don’t know what the factors are. Now, I am not the most inspiring guy, so I do understand that. But, I gotta worry about my team. I want them to do good,” Altman said.

The reported attendance at Matthew Knight Arena — which has a listed capacity of 12,364 — was 4738. It’s not uncommon for mid-December games to be lesser-attended and, given all the factors facing Oregon right now, a dip isn’t surprising. But a third-full arena is hard to overlook.