Oregon has right mix

Scientists test their hypotheses in controlled environments, careful to avoid outside influences that can spoil their experiments.

Winthrop men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall was the man with the beaker and Bunsen burner on Sunday, but he quickly discovered his environment was hardly manageable. It didn’t help that the Oregon Ducks weren’t so willing to be his test subjects either.

During Oregon’s dominating 75-61 second-round victory over the Eagles at the Arena, Marshall witnessed the Ducks’ prolific offense firsthand and just how dominating it can be when it gets into a rhythm. What he didn’t predict was how easily the Ducks’ defense dispatched his team, which had won 19 consecutive games.

Asked if he expected the Ducks to employ a man-to-man defense predicated on Oregon players switching and trading off the responsibility of guarding Winthrop’s players, Marshall’s answer may have raised a few eyebrows.

“To be honest, no,” Marshall said shortly after his Eagles made only 24 of 61 attempts (39 percent) from the floor. “Yesterday, in the one day that we had to prepare, we prepared more for the matchup zone that they employed quite a bit against Miami (Ohio). … If we had two or three days to prepare, maybe we would have been able to work on (the man-to-man defense) more and better.

“But you’ve got to give them credit. They did a great job with their man-to-man. And they only went zone, to my knowledge, one or two times in the whole game.”

The Eagles’ two pro prospects, guard Torrell Martin and post Craig Bradshaw, largely were non-factors in the contest. Martin finished with a team-high 15 points, but he missed 12 of 18 shots and finished 2 for 11 beyond the 3-point arc. Bradshaw was limited to six shots from the field and tallied just 10 points and seven rebounds.

With four athletic guard-type players on the floor for most of the game, the Ducks were able to prevent Bradshaw from touching the ball by fronting him defensively and then having another player quickly racing over from the weak side for a double team. Bradshaw never looked comfortable in the post, and he had four of the Eagles’ 15 turnovers.

“It was kind of difficult to get the ball inside,” Bradshaw said. “And if (teammates) did throw it in, there was help there to steal the ball. So it was just frustrating for me. Like you said, six shots.”

The result allowed Marshall a chance to reflect on his experiments gone bad.

“Our shooting percentages were down (8 for 31 on 3-point attempts) and our turnovers (15) were up, especially in the first half,” Marshall said. “The game was at a (suitable) pace for us in the first half, but they did start playing a little quicker in the second half. And they made some shots, and (Tajuan) Porter got really hot to start the second half. They pushed (the lead) to 10, and basically that was the game.”