NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga’s comeback, Villanova’s upset and other takeaways

Oregon’s offense has another non-conference disaster

Last season, Oregon missed out on the NCAA Tournament due to some bad efforts in the non-conference, including barely getting to 50 points against top-100 opponents. And already in just the first week of the season, the Ducks’ inability to score reared its ugly head once again.

The Pac-12 program took on UC-Irvine, an annual contender in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are a legit program but a preseason top-25-ranked opponent should be able to take them out. That ended up not working out, with the Ducks trailing by 12 points at the half and then by as many as 25 in the final 10 minutes, before losing, 69-56.

Only N’Faly Dante showed up for Oregon, going for 20 points and nine rebounds on 7/16 shooting from the field. The other four starters combined for 16 points, including starting point guard Will Richardson producing four points on 1/6 shooting, as well as seven turnovers. That’s better than Quincy Gueirrer going scoreless in the entire game.

With Keeshawn Barthelemy and Rivardo Soares not providing much on the backcourt and South Carolina transfer Jermaine Cousinard out with an injury, the offensive worries all of a sudden are back. If it’s not a one-time blip, Oregon could be in trouble once again.