Las Vegas, NV. – Oregon faced San Diego State in the nightcap of Day two of the Players Era Championship at Mandalay Bay. Both teams were coming off losses last night, Oregon by 11 points to Auburn while Michigan rolled the Aztecs by 40 points. The Ducks ran into a buzzsaw as San Diego State couldn’t miss the entire game and rolled to a 97-80 win. Reese Dixon-Waters scored 22 points, connecting on 4-of-7 3’s, to lead the winners. Jackson Shelstad came back from a poor shooting game on Monday to lead the Ducks with 21 points, hitting 5-of-9 from deep.
Oregon couldn’t stop San Diego State at all. The Aztecs only missed 20 total shots the entire game. They shot 67% from the field (39-of-58) including 48% on 3’s (11-of-23). Oregon had one of their more efficient offensive games, shooting 40% overall and 43% (12-of-28) from deep bur couldn’t match the efficiency of the Aztecs. Waters’ backcourt mate BJ Davis added 21 points and hit 3-of-4 of his 3’s. NBA prospect Magoon Gwath recovered from a subpar performance against Michigan to score 13 points, grab six rebounds, block four shots and bring the house down with an impressive dunk.
Oregon had issues finding scoring help for Shelstad. Center Nate Bittle seemed to be bothered by a lower body issue and had some problems getting up and down the court quickly. Bittle finished with 13 points but grabbed only one rebound and sat for much of the later part of the game. KJ Evans Jr. continued his improved play, scoring 16 points, connecting on two late 3’s and adding five rebounds and five assists.
A 9-0 run early in the second half expanded San Diego State’s lead to 14 points and basically sealed the game. The lead expanded to 24 points (94-70) late in the game on a Davis dunk. The Aztecs had a 36-22 edge in points in the paint and 47-18 in scoring off the bench.
The beginning of the game showed some promise for the Ducks. After shooting 1-of-11 on 3’s on Monday, Shelstad came out hot, connecting on his first three 3’s. However, he was met by a hot shooting Aztec squad. After the teams were tied at 15, San Diego State reeled off 12 straight points, highlighted by two three-pointers from Davis to take a 27-15 lead. The margin stayed around 10 points and the Aztecs took a 51-41 lead into the break. Davis led San Diego State with 13 points while Shelstad had 16 for the Ducks. Oregon’s center Bittle added 11 points. The Aztecs shot 69% overall, including 6-of-12 from deep. On two-point shots they were 14-of-17. Oregon also shot over 50% overall but were outrebounded 16-8 at the half. The Aztecs missed only nine total shots.
Oregon will have the day off on Wednesday and will face Creighton in a consolation game at 11am (TruTv) on Thanksgiving.
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Instagram, or on twitter.
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