Nate Bittle provides spark as Ducks capture 68-59 win over Pepperdine

Tuesday was Nate Bittle’s coming-out party as an Oregon Duck.

On a night the Ducks were devoid of energy and struggling on the defensive end, Bittle provided the spark they needed down the stretch.

Oregon emerged with a sloppy 68-59 win over Pepperdine at Matthew Knight Arena to improve to 7-6 on the season. The Ducks have now concluded their non-conference schedule and will set their sights on Pac-12 play.

Oregon shot just 43 percent from the field and went 4-of-18 from three. The Ducks never found a way to consistently stop the Pepperdine (5-9) and looked disorganized and disinterested defensively for much of the night.

But with the game still in the balance down the stretch, Bittle, Oregon’s highly-touted freshman big man, played the best game of his college career.

In career-high 20 minutes, Bittle tallied eight points, four blocks, and one steal.

That stat line doesn’t tell the full story of his contributions. Over the final eight minutes of the game, Bittle was seemingly at the heart of every good thing Oregon did defensively.

“Nate was very impressive, I thought he was the difference” Oregon coach Dana Altman said.

Until Tuesday, Bittle had struggled to find consistent playing time for the Ducks. He is averaging just 7.2 minutes per game, and four of his nine blocks this season came in Tuesday’s contest.

Altman admitted that Bittle, and the rest of Oregon’s players, have not displayed enough defensive intensity in practice this season. He tore into his team for its lack of defensive effort during his postgame presser.

But as the game went on, the 7-foot Bittle made his presence felt on defense. Altman pointed out that it wasn’t just his blocked shots that were disrupting Pepperdine. In total, Bittle was responsible for eight of the 20 defensive deflections the Ducks tallied Tuesday.

“Coach called my name and I’ve been ready for this,” Bittle said. “I just went out there and played as hard as I could. You’ve got to play defense to get some offensive possessions, so I tried to lock it down on defense and that led to some offensive points.”

Bittle’s contributions were badly needed. Oregon’s starting center, N’Faly Dante, struggled early and never quite found his rhythm. He played just 10 minutes and committed three turnovers.

After the game, Altman said Dante’s knee was bothering him, so the Ducks opted to sit him for the rest of the evening.

Early in the game, Altman rolled Bittle and Dante out in the same lineup but didn’t find much success. Franck Kepnang provided a spark off the bench and made some significant contributions.

But when the Ducks needed to put Pepperdine away late, Bittle was the lone big man on the floor and was Oregon’s defensive anchor down the stretch.

“We need to see that every day from him so he can do it consistently,” Altman said of Bittle. “He’s capable of that. His God-given talent is very good. Those long arms, his instincts are good.

“You’ve gotta really compete and earn stuff in practice… He got a chance tonight and he took advantage of it. Now bring it on (Dec. 27) when we start practice again.”

Oregon struggled to find its footing early and turned the ball over six times within the first five minutes.

But after an Altman timeout with six minutes left in the half, they ratcheted up the defensive intensity midway through the first half and went on a 12-0 run late in the half to take a 37-33 lead at the break.

“(Altman) said, ‘Play defense,'” Bittle said. “We’ve gotta try to block shots. As long as we’re there contesting, that changes their shot, trying to shoot over a 7-footer.

“He told us it had to start with defense and that would lead to offense.”

Bittle played 14 of his 20 minutes in the second half. Pepperdine hung around late and trailed by just four points with five minutes to go. But Bittle made a couple of stellar plays on the defensive end to bring the crowd back into the game and help cover up the Ducks’ late-game offensive struggles.

With 1:18 left in the game, Quincy Guerrier buried a long 3-pointer to push Oregon’s lead to 64-55 and essentially put the game on ice.

Will Richardson played 38 minutes for the Ducks and led all players with 19 points and seven assists. Jacob Young added 10 points.

Oregon will be in action again on Dec. 30 when it hosts Colorado in Eugene for a Pac-12 matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.