EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - The stat sheet doesn’t lie, and Oregon coach Dana Altman didn’t mince words while ticking off the unsatisfactory numbers even after his team won.
“Our focus, our attention to detail, I didn’t think was very good,” he said, “and that shows in the percentages, especially in the second half.
“I hope guys will put pressure on themselves so that we can get better after a win.”
Bol Bol had 21 points and nine rebounds, Payton Pritchard added 18 points and No. 21 Oregon held off Green Bay 83-72 on Tuesday night.
The Ducks (4-1) won the game at the foul line, making 33 of 42 free throws to just 9 of 18 for the Phoenix (3-3). Green Bay had a 27-22 edge in field goals, including 9-6 on 3-pointers.
“I was disappointed in our focus at times, in our coverage defensively and our toughness,” Altman said. “Defensively, we’re not making good decisions. We sell out and give up some easy baskets.
“We’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do.”
Bol was the catalyst in the first half with 15 points as the Ducks led 38-29, and Pritchard scored 16 in the second half. Paul White and Will Richardson had 10 points apiece.
Bol was 8 for 12 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and all nine of his rebounds were on the defensive end before he fouled out late.
“Bol’s a terrific scorer,” Altman said. “I just didn’t think he posted up very hard. I thought they pushed him around a little bit.
“I’m going to have to take a look at the film and see, and we played him too many minutes. I don’t think he’s ready for 33 minutes right now.”
Sandy Cohen III led the Phoenix with 18 points, and ShanQuan Hemphill and JayQuan McCloud added 10 apiece.
The Ducks trailed once early and the Phoenix made them sweat, trailing by four late in the first half and two more times in the second. Oregon answered both times with scoring runs fueled by 3-pointers that pushed the lead back to double digits.
Green Bay was back within four again with two minutes left, but the Ducks hit nine of their last 10 free throws to seal the victory.
The Phoenix went 5 of 12 from 3-point range and were 15 of 31 overall in the second half to stay close.
“I think they were just getting to the basket too easy. It was just a bad job on our part,” Oregon’s Kenny Wooten said.
Oregon had a 40-34 advantage in rebounds. The Ducks blocked seven shots, led by Wooten with four.
BIG PICTURE
Superior athleticism carried the Ducks to another home win over a mid-major, but the team game Altman relishes wasn’t much on display - particularly on offense. Oregon had just 11 assists, with Pritchard’s five leading the way, and 13 turnovers.
McCloud’s firepower off the Green Bay bench wasn’t as evident against the Ducks after the junior college transfer went for 44 points in his previous two games. The Phoenix’s leading scorer finished with 10 points, four off his season average.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Oregon looks to climb back from dropping eight spots to No. 21 after losing to then-unranked Iowa and beating now-unranked Syracuse in New York City. The schedule favors such a rebound with five of the Ducks’ next six games at home.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Oregon sophomore Abu Kigab, a 6-foot-7 reserve forward, grabbed an offensive rebound and flipped it over his head in one motion for a reverse layup to cap the Ducks’ 19-8 start. Kigab muscled in two more offensive rebounds in the second half and all seven of Oregon’s second-chance points.
STAR WATCH
The 7-foot-2 Bol keeps drawing attention in creative ways. His deep 3-pointer in transition drew gasps and capped a 10-2 Oregon run in the first half, but a few minutes later he hammered a two-handed jam off the back iron, with the long rebound leading to a Phoenix fast break.
UP NEXT
After a one-game trip to the West Coast, Green Bay heads home to host Northern Illinois next Wednesday.
Oregon takes a holiday break before hosting Texas Southern on Monday night. The Ducks play their first road game on an opponent’s floor at Houston on Dec. 1.
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