“We just weren’t really focused the second half”, Altman said.
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ABOUT OREGON (2-0): Dorsey has been as good as advertised early with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in a team-high 37 minutes against Baylor. – Gabe York scored 18 points, and Arizona moved to 4-0 for the sixth straight season. “I’ve already talked to him several times about it”, Drew told reporters.
Taking that attitude didn’t always translate to pretty basketball for the Ducks. Tevonn Walker banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 35-33 lead.
It was only when the Ducks fell behind 47-43 in the second half that Brooks made a decision to take over the game. This was the third time Brooks recorded a double-double in his career. But a year ago, Brooks was working on channeling his emotions and his inexperience had his game coming in waves. During the ensuing timeout, Brooks walked back to the huddle with a yell and fist pump as the 5,752 inside Matthew Knight Arena awoke from their slumber.
“For the most part he’s channeled it in a positive manner”, Altman said of Brooks, who didn’t drop his half-court pose until waved off by his coach.
Valparaiso: Bryce Drew, who has all five starters back from last year’s 28-win team, went nine deep in the first five minutes of Sunday’s game.
Dillon Brooks had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Ducks while Tyler Dorsey added 21 points and senior forward Elgin Cook had 13 points. – George King scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, Josh Scott had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Colorado rallied to beat Nebraska-Omaha.
“Me and Dillon had it going and we were just feeding off each other”, Dorsey said. “We struggled there for a while, but he and Chris made a couple plays there and kept us going”.
And cleaning up in the second half made all the difference. They face a tough test Sunday in Valparaiso, one of the country’s best midmajors, and a repeat of Friday’s second half would spell trouble. “We’ve got to get in our sets a little faster, and make transitions more clean”. “We’ve got to have that fight”.
No. 11 Villanova 75, Akron 56: VILLANOVA, Pa. – Josh Hart scored a career-high 27 points to lead Villanova to the victory in the NIT Season Tipoff. Tuesday night’s game at Oregon State will close out a stretch of seven games in 12 days to open the Crusaders’ season. But that’s where having a player like Brooks, who willed himself into notoriety on Sunday, comes in handy. “This was a grind-it-out game”.
You can never account for an opposing player getting hot and dominating the game, especially when that player normally averages 10 points per game.
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“We got a few guys in and Roman and Trevor got to show what they can do and Kendall had a good game too”, Brooks said.
