Dana Altman calls on Oregon to 'quit turning the ball over' first-half struggles vs. South Carolina

Throughout a back-and-forth first half against South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament, Oregon found itself struggling with ball security. The Ducks committed seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, and the Gamecocks turned those into six points.

As both teams tried to create separation, Dana Altman’s message to his Oregon team was simple.

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“Well, quit turning the ball over,” he told TNT’s Evan Washburn. “We [have] seven or eight turnovers already. We’ve got to handle the ball better, we’ve got to get the ball to [N’Faly] Dante a little bit better. They’re a physical team, and guys are trying to battle them. We’ve just got to do a little better job handling the ball.”

Oregon cleaned things up the rest of the way after that rocky start, committing just two turnovers over the last 13 minutes of the first half to take a 34-29 lead into halftime. The Ducks got a strong performance from Jermaine Couisnard, who had a game-high 14 points at the break against his former team to go with four assists.

But beyond the turnover issues, the biggest area Altman wanted to see improvement was at the free throw line, where Oregon went 3-for-6 in the first 20 minutes.

“We played a good first half,” Altman said on his way to the locker room. “Our defense was pretty solid. Just too many turnovers, missed some free throws that would’ve helped us. We played pretty good. I’d have liked to seen an eight-point lead, but they’re gonna hit some shots. That’s just one of them.”

Dana Altman explains why Oregon is using different looks on defense vs. South Carolina

The defense was strong for Oregon, holding South Carolina to 9-for-28 shooting in the first half and just 4-for-12 from three-point shooting. Altman said the Ducks changed things up – largely due to personnel – but N’Faly Dante is still the straw that stirs the drink. The Oregon big man took eight points, four rebounds and a steal into halftime.

Altman added it was a team effort, and he hopes that success continues into the second half.

“We’ve sat back,” Altman said. “We haven’t trapped as much as we usually do just simply because of our numbers. But the guys have done a pretty good job rotating. Dante’s a presence in there. All in all, they’ve done a pretty good job.”

The defense was solid, but the Oregon offense was also firing on all cylinders. The Ducks shot 60.9% from the field and 3-for-9 from downtown with eight assists on 14 made baskets as Couisnard and Dante led the way.