Oregon has survived two close games to open the season, and the Ducks hope to stay undefeated on Wednesday night when they meet South Dakota State in a non-conference contest in Eugene, Ore.
Center Nate Bittle, one of the top returning players from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, is off to a strong start for the Ducks (2-0). Bittle is averaging 18.5 points and 11 rebounds per game and has made 15 of 18 free throws, the most on the team.
The Ducks have a one-point win over Hawaii, with Elon transfer Takai Simpkins driving for the game-winning layup with three seconds to play. Oregon added a 67-63 win over Rice, in which the Ducks worked the ball inside to Bittle and others and got to the foul line often.
Guard Jackson Shelstad returned from a hand injury that forced him out of the season opener and struggled to make shots (2-of-12 from the field), but coach Dana Altman said Shelstad, the Ducks’ driving force on offense, just needs to gets his legs under him.
“We’ve won two grinding games here because we’re not playing well,” Altman said. “Our ball movement’s got to get so much better.”
South Dakota State (2-1) won the Summit League regular season and tournament championships on its way to the NCAA Tournament last season.
The Jackrabbits know recent success, with seven conference tournament championships that led to NCAA Tournament berths since 2012.
South Dakota State lost its most recent game, 65-58 at Northern Iowa on Sunday. Center Damon Wilkinson had career highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Jaden Jackson is the team’s leading scorer at 17.3 points per game.
“Our guys have got to understand that we’re going to get a lot of teams’ best shots,” South Dakota State first-year head coach Bryan Petersen said after a recent game. “That’s a really good program (Oregon) out there, and they’ll have a lot of really good players.”
