By DSH basketball columnist Brian Mahuna
With a victory over Georgetown in the season opener, Duck fans knew they had something quite special in this year’s version of the Oregon Ducks Men’s basketball team.
Seven games later, the Ducks crossed the country to Oxford Mississippi, undefeated and looking to make a statement against 8-1 Ole Miss and their electrifying scorer Marshall Henderson.
Out of the gate the Ducks looked like they were going to struggle with the size and strength of the Ole Miss front court. With bruising big men down low the Rebels jumped out to a quick 14-7 rebounding advantage barely ten minutes into the game.
Mike Moser and Joe Young were held in check offensively and Moser looked a little vulnerable inside on the defensive end in the first half.
In came Richard Amardi, Elgin Cook and Jason Calliste. The three transfers set the tone with tough defensive play and played without fear on the offensive end. In a game where the crowd was hostile and the air was electric, those three never looked intimidated and made the most of their opportunities.
Ole Miss went into the half with a one point lead thanks largely in part to Marshall Henderson who knocked in 13 first half points and finished the game with an eye popping 39, a career high. A lot of people will look a the stat sheet and sheet 105 points and 39 by Henderson and wonder, ‘Where was the Duck defense?’
But the fact is, the entire Ole Miss team, especially late in the game used some kind of luck to hoist up double clutch, contested, fade away three’s and have the ball not even hit the rim on the majority of the makes. It was truly a sight to behold at the amount of shots the Ducks contested only to have them swish through the net.
To put Henderson’s big game into perspective, the senior scored 39 points on a staggering 27 shots, 23 of which he took from behind the arc. The entire Ducks team took only 17 three pointers connecting on 10 of them. Henderson put up a lot of shots, many of which were bad decisions, and many of them drawing nothing but air. The Ducks defended him very well, and there are times where the shot is just going to go in no matter how well it’s defended. He was chased all night, and made some big shots, including a double clutch three contested by Jason Calliste near the end of regulation. The shot that went in to force overtime was made over perfect defense by Johnathan Loyd and it didn’t even hit the rim.
The second half was huge for the Ducks, who made an effort to rebound the ball better and play more within themselves. Moser and Young exploded in the second half with Young scoring 14 of his total night points in the second period. Moser began to look like the All-MWC player he was two years ago and finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, his second double double of the season.
Six players for the Ducks scored in double figures with Loyd knocking in 25, Dotson scoring 13, Calliste with 10, Cook with 14, and Amardi was close with 9. As has been the theme all season the Ducks slow start on the glass hurt them in the first half. They finished even with Ole Miss on the glass with 35 total rebounds but gave up a monstrous 15 offensive boards while only grabbing seven on their own offensive glass. The Ducks however played a strong game offensively with 24 total assists to only 15 turnovers. The Rebels couldn’t match the defensive intensity that the Ducks played with in the second half committing 17 turnovers and with only 17 assists.
Player of the Game: Johnathan Loyd
Easily the most outstanding player in this game, the senior Las Vegas native was the undeniable leader of the team not just mentally but also with his stat line. He co-led the team in scoring with 25 points and handed out a career high 15 assists in a beautiful display of passing. Loyd was the catalyst for the Ducks throughout the night, getting his teammates fired up, or calming them down.
When Amardi slammed the ball down and drew a technical foul in the first half, Loyd was there giving the high level transfer a mental boost after a moment of weakness. Late in the game his presence was even more prominent as he was called upon time after time to nail clutch free throws to ice the game. His 14/16 mark from the line kept the Rebels at bay and Loyd came up with a steal late from 6’9 forward Anthony Perez to halt any shot the Rebels had to mount a comeback.
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